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    "label": "American Heart Month, 1977 [Proclamation]",
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    "title": "American Heart Month, 1977 [Proclamation]",
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    "ocrText": "Digitized from Box 35 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nJanuary 19, 1977\nOffice of the White House Press Secretary\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nAMERICAN HEART MONTH, 1977\nBY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\nA PROCLAMATION\nFor over three decades, diseases of the heart and\nblood vessels have constituted one of our Nation's most\nserious health problems. Cardiovascular diseases affect\nmore than 29 million Americans, especially among the\nelderly, and are the direct cause of more than half of all\ndeaths occurring each year in the United States. While\ntheir economic toll in terms of lost wages, productivity,\nand cost of medical care can be estimated at nearly $44\nbillion annually, the toll in terms of human suffering\ncan never be measured.\nAmerica's continuing determination to meet any\nchallenge to the well-being of its people is illustrated\nby the dedication that has characterized its efforts\nto control these disorders. Sustained research and\nclinical advances since 1950 have contributed substan-\ntially to declining mortality rates for stroke, rheumatic\nfever, coronary and congenital heart disease, and hyper-\ntension. Our investment in research, public and pro-\nfessional education, and community service activities has\nbeen rewarded. In that same time, the mortality rate in\nthe United States from all heart and blood vessel diseases\nhas declined by 30 percent. In 1975, deaths in this\ncountry from major cardiovascular diseases dropped below\none million for the first time since 1967.\nThis multi-faceted assault on heart and blood vessel\ndiseases has been led by the National Heart, Lung, and\nBlood Institute, a federal agency, and by the American\nHeart Association, a private health organization funded\nthrough contributions from citizens across the country.\nTheir successful efforts illustrate what can be achieved\nwhen public and private institutions -- and the American\npeople as well -- join forces against a common threat.\nIn recognition of the necessity for constant vigilance\nagainst the ravages of cardiovascular disease, and to en-\ncourage still greater efforts to combat its threat to the\nNation's health, the Congress, by joint resolution approved\nDecember 30, 1963 (77 Stat. 843; 36 U.S.C. 169b) has\nrequested the President to issue annually a proclamation\ndesignating February as American Heart Month.\nmore\n2\nNOW, THEREFORE, I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the\nUnited States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of\nFebruary, 1977, as American Heart Month. I invite the\nGovernors of the States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,\nthe officials of other areas subject to the jurisdiction\nof the United States, and the American people, to join\nwith me in reaffirming our commitment to resolving the\nnationwide problem of cardiovascular disease.\nIN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this\nnineteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen\nhundred seventy-seven, and of the Independence of the\nUnited States of America the two hundred and first.\nGERALD R. FORD\n# # #"
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