[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 22, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 17143-17144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05989]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 22, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 17143]]

                Proclamation 10531 of March 17, 2023

                
National Poison Prevention Week, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Each year, Americans report more than 2 million 
                poisoning cases and tens of thousands of children are 
                treated for poisoning in emergency rooms after 
                accidentally ingesting dangerous household chemicals. 
                For survivors and their families, the experience can be 
                traumatizing and recovery can be long and difficult. 
                During National Poison Prevention Week, we urge every 
                American to take careful steps to keep their loved ones 
                safe, and we thank the poison control centers across 
                the country that stand guard, providing lifesaving 
                advice and care around the clock.

                The Congress has worked for decades to protect 
                Americans from poisonous household products, and 
                President John F. Kennedy issued the first Presidential 
                Proclamation calling out this threat in 1962. Today, 
                that work continues. Most poisoning cases are 
                accidental and preventable, often involving children 
                who mistakenly ingest medicines, batteries, dangerous 
                chemicals found in household cleaning items, hand 
                sanitizers, or even the liquid nicotine used in e-
                cigarettes.

                It is essential to store harmful products in child-
                resistant packaging, throw away unfinished medicines, 
                and keep other potential poisons out of the sight and 
                reach of small children. That is why, last year, I 
                signed a new law to improve child-resistant closures on 
                consumer products that use small batteries. And we need 
                to encourage older Americans to clearly label their 
                medications or keep them in their original packaging to 
                avoid dangerous mix-ups.

                We cannot ignore the equally important fact that 
                Americans are being poisoned by illegal synthetic 
                opioids, including highly toxic fentanyl, sometimes 
                even on their first use. More than 107,000 Americans 
                lost their lives to a drug overdose or poisoning in 
                2021. My National Drug Control Strategy takes 
                aggressive action to disrupt supply and to expand 
                access to lifesaving naloxone, treatments, and recovery 
                services while also investing in prevention.

                Anyone who thinks that someone, including themselves, 
                has been poisoned should immediately call the National 
                Poison Control help line at 800-222-1222 to be 
                connected to a local poison control center. Trained 
                experts, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, 
                are ready to offer real-time help and can often solve a 
                poisoning emergency over the phone. Learn more about 
                their lifesaving services at poisonhelp.hrsa.gov.

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

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 
                19 through March 25, 2023, to be National Poison 
                Prevention Week. I call upon all Americans to observe 
                this week by taking actions to safeguard their families 
                and friends from poisonous products, chemicals, and 
                medicines often found in our homes

[[Page 17144]]

                and to raise awareness of these dangers to prevent 
                accidental injuries and deaths.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                seventeenth day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-05989
Filed 3-21-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P