[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 46 (Monday, March 10, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 11067-11068]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6105]



[[Page 11065]]

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Part V





The President





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Proclamation 6977--National Poison Prevention Week, 1997
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 46 / Monday, March 10, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 11067]]

                Proclamation 6977 of March 5, 1997

                
National Poison Prevention Week, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                This year, as we observe National Poison Prevention 
                Week, we highlight two achievements: the effectiveness 
                of child-resistant packaging required by the U.S. 
                Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the 
                lifesaving work of the Nation's poison control centers. 
                These public health efforts have reduced childhood 
                poisoning deaths from 450 deaths in 1961 to 50 deaths 
                in 1993. However, according to the American Association 
                of Poison Control Centers, over one million children 
                each year are exposed to potentially poisonous 
                medicines and household chemicals.

                Virtually all poisonings are preventable, and we must 
                continue to inform parents, grandparents, and 
                caregivers how to prevent childhood poisonings. The 
                Poison Prevention Week Council, a coalition of 39 
                national organizations determined to stop accidental 
                poisonings, distributes valuable information used by 
                poison control centers, pharmacies, public health 
                departments, and others to conduct poison prevention 
                programs in their communities.

                Simple safety measures--such as correctly using child-
                resistant packaging and keeping potentially harmful 
                substances locked away from children--can save lives. 
                And if a poisoning occurs, a poison control center can 
                offer quick and lifesaving intervention.

                The CPSC requires child-resistant packaging for many 
                medicines and household chemicals. A recent CPSC study 
                showed that every year approximately 24 children's 
                lives are saved by child-resistant packaging for oral 
                prescription medicines. The CPSC recently took action 
                to ensure that child-resistant packaging will be easier 
                for adults to use as well. This, in turn, will increase 
                the use of child-resistant packaging, preventing more 
                poisonings.

                To encourage Americans to learn more about the dangers 
                of accidental poisonings and to take more preventive 
                measures, the Congress, by joint resolution approved 
                September 26, 1961 (75 Stat. 681), has authorized and 
                requested the President to issue a proclamation 
                designating the third week of March of each year as 
                ``National Poison Prevention Week.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 16 
                through March 22, 1997, as National Poison Prevention 
                Week. I call upon all Americans to observe this week by 
                participating in appropriate ceremonies and activities 
                and by learning how to prevent accidental poisonings 
                among children.

[[Page 11068]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen 
                hundred and ninety-seven, and of the Independence of 
                the United States of America the two hundred and 
                twenty-first.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-6105
Filed 3-7-97; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P