THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
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For Immediate Release March 2, 1994
SAVE YOUR VISION WEEK, 1994
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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Vision is a gift to be treasured. We often take our sight for
granted and must be reminded that our eyes require adequate
care and attention. At a time when new technologies are
revolutionizing medicine, eye care continues to make dramatic
progress. Many diseases or accidents that would have caused
permanent blindness just a few decades ago can now be treated,
with excellent prospects for full recovery. Eye care
professionals learn more about proper eye care every year,
discovering new ways to prevent disease and to minimize
potential damage to our precious eyesight.
Despite our ever-increasing medical knowledge, however,
thousands of Americans still suffer preventable vision loss
each year. Proper eye care can significantly reduce the
incidence of such needless tragedies, and I encourage all
Americans to learn ways to minimize the risks of disease and
injury to their eyes.
Having periodic eye examinations is an excellent way to invest
in one's long-term health. Preventive eye care is always
mo efficient, more effective, and less expensive than
dealing with an existing disease. A comprehensive eye
examination allows an eye care professional the ability to
identify a disease in its earliest stages and prescribe the
treatment with the best chances for success.
Glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness in the
United States, if diagnosed early, can be treated quite
successfully. Though there are often no early warning
symptoms of the disease, an eye care professional can detect
the affliction during a regular examination and prescribe eye
drops or other simple treatments to control the disease and
save the patient's sight. I urge all people at high risk for
glaucoma --African Americans over the age of 40 and everyone
over the age of 60 -- to receive an eye examination through
dilated pupils at least every two years.
People with diabetes are also at particularly high risk for
preventable eye disorders. Such eye disease as diabetic
retinopathy, which still blinds many people with diabetes in
our Nation, can be stopped if it is diagnosed in time. By
receiving an eye examination at least once a year, diabetics
can do much to protect their vision.
Children, of course, should receive periodic eye
examinations, starting when they are very young. Regular eye
care at a tender age can identify otherwise hidden disorders,
thus sparing the child a lifetime of visual impairment.
I encourage all Americans to take precautions to safeguard
their vision throughout their lives. We must teach our
children proper eye safety by example -- wearing masks or
goggles when we play in contact sports and using safety
glasses when working with volatile chemicals or dangerous
machinery.
To encourage everyone to make a concerted effort to protect
the cherished gift of sight, the Congress, by a joint
resolution approved December 30, 1963 (77 Stat. 629; 36 U.S.C.
169a), has authorized and requested the President to issue a
proclamation designating the first week in March of each year
as "Save Your Vision Week."
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week
beginning March 6, 1994, as Save Your Vision Week. I urge all
Americans to participate in this observance by making eye
care and eye safety a priority in their lives. I invite eye
care professionals, members of the media, and all public and
private organizations committed to the important goal of sight
protection to join in activities that will make Americans more
aware of the steps they can take to protect their vision.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second
day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and
ninety-four, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and eighteenth.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
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A RICHARD E. GANS, M.D. 11
A A OFCN Primary Sysop, The Eye Clinic 111
AAAAA xx102@ofcn.org 11
A A A C A D E M Y O N E 1111
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NOTICE: OFCN is not engaged in the rendering of professional medical services. The information contained on this system or any other OFCN system should not supplant individual professional consultation. It is offered exclusively as a community education service. Advice on individual problems must be obtained directly from a professional.
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