Proclamation 5992—National Scleroderma Awareness Week, 1989

Each year, thousands of Americans suffer from a rare but serious disease known as scleroderma. We must call national attention to this mysterious ailment and the ongoing efforts to find a cure for it.

Scleroderma, which literally means "hard skin," is a painful and debilitating connective tissue disease characterized by excessive deposits of collagen in the skin. While the hallmark of this disease is skin thickening, scleroderma can affect other organs of the body, such as the stomach, lungs, heart, or kidneys.

Although the disease can strike at any age, it usually affects people in their most productive years, and women more frequently than men. New research findings and new approaches to diagnosis and treatment are being developed to combat scleroderma. Studies on scleroderma include investigations into various causes of the disease, research on vascular alterations and regulation of collagen synthesis, and development of diagnostic probes. Such studies may lead to new and improved treatments that will effectively eliminate the disease itself.

In order for this work to continue and in order to take advantage of the knowledge we have already gained, public awareness of scleroderma and of the importance of scientific research must be increased. The Federal Government and private voluntary organizations are thus working together to promote education and research on scleroderma.

To enhance public understanding of scleroderma and to recognize the important efforts to combat this disease, the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 274, has designated the week beginning June 11, 1989, as "National Scleroderma Awareness Week" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this occasion.

Now, Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning June 11, 1989, as National Scleroderma Awareness Week. I urge the people of the United States and educational, philanthropic, scientific, and medical organizations and professionals to participate in activities designed to further public awareness of the causes and treatment of scleroderma.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirteenth.

GEORGE BUSH