[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 46 (Thursday, March 8, 2001)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 14067-14068]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-6043]



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Part VI





The President





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Proclamation 7413--Save Your Vision Week, 2001



Proclamation 7414--Greek Independence Day: A National Day of 
Celebration of Greek and American Democracy, 2001
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 46 / Thursday, March 8, 2001 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 14067]]

                Proclamation 7413 of March 5, 2001

                
Save Your Vision Week, 2001

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                As part of our regular health routine, we often 
                overlook vision. Good vision affects how we work, 
                communicate, and learn. According to the Department of 
                Health and Human Services, about 80 million Americans 
                suffer from potentially blinding eye diseases, 3 
                million have low vision, and 200,000 more are severely 
                visually impaired.

                Visual impairment can strike at any time. Some eye 
                diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy, can develop and 
                damage the eye without warning. Also, visual impairment 
                can develop more often in certain groups. For example, 
                some groups of Americans have a higher risk for 
                glaucoma, including those over the age of 60, African 
                Americans over the age of 40, and people who have a 
                family history of the disease.

                Visual impairment can also strike the future of this 
                country: our children. Infants and young children are 
                not immune to eye disorders. Amblyopia, poor vision in 
                an eye that did not develop normal sight during early 
                childhood, causes problems in very early life. Early 
                vision screening is important for our young people to 
                ensure that their eyes receive immediate treatment if 
                problems are found. Also, myopia, or nearsightedness, 
                affects 15 percent of those entering high school.

                Many occupations and forms of recreation can present 
                dangers to the eye. Eye protection is a necessity when 
                jobs create the possibility of eye injury. Wearing 
                protective eyewear when playing sports can cut down on 
                eye injury by as much as 90 percent, and wearing eye 
                protection when working in the yard can also reduce the 
                number of serious eye injuries.

                The best way to detect eye diseases and disorders is 
                through a dilated eye exam. Many eye problems can be 
                prevented or reversed with early detection and 
                appropriate intervention.

                There are many other ways we can help reduce vision 
                disorders. We can make healthy lifestyle choices for 
                ourselves and our families, clinicians can emphasize 
                prevention in their practices, and scientists can 
                pursue new treatments and prevention strategies through 
                research. Using both traditional and innovative 
                approaches, we can all work to make better vision and 
                vision protection an important part of our Nation's 
                public health agenda.

                The Congress, by joint resolution approved December 30, 
                1963 (77 Stat. 629; 36 U.S.C. 138), has authorized and 
                requested the President to proclaim the first week in 
                March of each year as ``Save Your Vision Week.''

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim March 4 through March 10, 
                2001, as ``Save Your Vision Week.'' I urge all 
                Americans to participate by making eye care and eye 
                safety an important part of their lives and to ensure 
                that dilated eye examinations are included in their 
                regular health maintenance programs. I invite eye care 
                professionals, the media, and all public and private 
                organizations dedicated to preserving eyesight to join

[[Page 14068]]

                in activities that will raise awareness of the measures 
                we can take to protect and sustain our vision.

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

[FR Doc. 01-6043
Filed 3-7-01; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P