Proclamation 3941—National Family Health Week

The American medical profession has made remarkable progress in the advancement of health. Constant expansion of medical knowledge, development of new, more and better hospitals and health facilities, growth of programs to assure access to health services to people who might otherwise lack them—all have combined to keep us moving toward the goal of higher standards for all our people.

Life expectancy has been increasing. Infant mortality rates have been declining slowly, as have maternal mortality rates. One after another, contagious diseases have been conquered.

But these overall gains cannot mask the critically serious problems that remain. Heart disease, cancer, and stroke account for two-thirds of all deaths in the United States. Too many mothers and young babies do not receive life-saving care. Thousands of Americans are not able to work because of chronic disabling diseases that might have been prevented. Many Americans are still without adequate health care. Efforts to improve health services must be and will be intensified.

Amid all of the large scale advances and the remaining problems, the family physician continues to perform a unique service to the Nation in helping to guard health and prevent disease. His dedication and skill are the foundation of good medical care. His work embraces the broad spectrum of medical science—from personal health to family planning to emotional well-being.

To focus national attention on the accomplishments of the American health care system and the central role of the family physician in maintaining superior medical services and improving the health of Americans of all ages and in all walks of life, the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 46, has requested the President to issue a proclamation designating the week of November 16 to 22, 1969, as National Family Health Week.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning November 16, 1969, as National Family Health Week. I call upon the people of the United States, the medical and health professions, and other interested organizations and groups to observe that week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-fourth.

RICHARD NIXON