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American Heart Month [1985]
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American Heart Month [1985]
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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Correspondence, White House Office of:
Records, 1981-89
Folder Title: American Heart Month
Box: 77 (1985)
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digitized-textual-material
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Inventories, visit:
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/white-house-inventories
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/research-
support/citation-guide
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
Last Updated: 05/3/2023
THE UNITED THE STATES. OF SEAL
American Heart Month, 1985
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Despite progress in many areas, cardiovascular disease remains this Nation's
number one cause of death. The sad fact is that more than 40 million
Americans have one or more forms of heart or blood vessel disease. Strokes
afflict almost two million people annually. As many as 1.5 million persons will
have a heart attack this year, and approximately 550,000 of them will die. In
all, diseases of the heart and blood vessels will take the lives of almost one
million of our fellow citizens-some of whom may be our family members, our
friends and our co-workers.
Almost as many people will die from cardiovascular disease during 1985 as
from cancer, accidents, and all other causes combined. Economic losses will
also run high. This Nation will spend an estimated $72 billion in 1985 for
medical treatment, lost salaries, rehiring and training, and insurance and
disability claims resulting from heart and blood vessel disease.
The American Heart Association, a not-for-profit volunteer health agency, and
the Federal government, primarily through the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute, are providing hope. In 1948, those two organizations joined forces to
seek ways to reduce early death and disability from heart disease, stroke, and
related disorders. Since then, much has been accomplished through research,
professional and public education, and community service programs.
We have learned, for example, that maintaining proper nutrition, not smoking,
and controlling high blood pressure can make a significant difference in the
rate of incidence of these diseases. As a result, the death rates for heart
attacks and strokes are much lower today than they were in 1948.
Even more progress should result from efforts by the Federal government and
the American Heart Association to make everyone more aware of the dangers
of smoking. Tougher labeling laws for cigarette packaging and advertising
enacted last year by Congress will help. Research projects, such as the
Coronary Primary Prevention Trials concluded in 1984, have given new impe-
tus to the American Heart Association's longstanding finding that control of
blood cholesterol decreases risk for heart attacks and strokes. The American
Heart Association has taken major steps to inform the public about the
significance of those test results, to influence Americans to adopt a prudent
diet, and to encourage the efforts of scientists who are unlocking the mysteries
of heart and blood vessel diseases.
Recognizing the need for all Americans to help in the continuing battle against
cardiovascular disease, the Congress, by joint resolution approved December
30, 1963 (77 Stat. 843; 36 U.S.C. 169b), has requested the President to issue
annually a proclamation designating February as American Heart Month.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim the month of February 1985 as American Heart
Month. I invite the Governors of the States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
the officials of other areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and
the American people to join me in reaffirming our commitment to the resolu-
tion of the nationwide problem of cardiovascular disease.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day
of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-five, and of
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and ninth.
Ronald Reagan