National Poison Prevention Week, 2000

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Part II

The President

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Proclamation 7281--National Poison Prevention Week, 2000

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7281 of March 17, 2000

National Poison Prevention Week, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Children face many dangers growing up, including some
which we cannot foresee or prevent. But the danger of
accidental poisoning from medicines, household
chemicals, or other substances used routinely in the
home is something we can--and must--stop. Each year
during National Poison Prevention Week, we assess our
progress in saving lives and reaffirm our national
commitment to preventing injuries or deaths from
poisoning.

We have indeed made progress in the nearly 4 decades
since the Congress first authorized this annual
observance. In 1962, almost 450 children died of
poisoning after swallowing medicines or household
chemicals. By 1996, that tragic statistic had been
reduced to 47. Our goal is to reduce it to zero.

The first and most effective means to achieving this
goal is the proper use of child-resistant packaging,
which the Consumer Product Safety Commission requires
for many medicines and household chemicals. While this
special packaging is child-resistant, however, it is
not childproof; therefore, it is essential that adults
keep potentially poisonous substances locked away from
children.

Our second line of defense is America's poison control
centers, where lifesaving information is only a phone
call away. If a poisoning does occur, parents or other
caregivers can call one of these centers and
immediately learn the appropriate actions to take to
mitigate the poison's effects. Last month, I was proud
to sign into law the Poison Control Center Enhancement
and Awareness Act, which authorizes $140 million over
the next 5 years to fund our Nation's poison control
centers, to carry out a national public awareness
campaign, and to establish a national toll-free poison
control hotline. Each year, more than 2 million
poisonings are reported, a million of which involve
children, and this new funding will ensure that callers
have immediate access to the vital services and
information they need to save lives.

I thank the Poison Prevention Week Council, which
brings together 35 national organizations to distribute
poison prevention information to pharmacies, public
health departments, and safety organizations
nationwide, for its vital role in the progress
Americans have made in reducing accidental poisonings.
By following its lead, properly using child-resistant
packaging, keeping poisonous substances locked away
from children, and keeping the number of a poison
prevention center close by the telephone, we can
greatly reduce accidental poisonings.

To encourage the American people to learn more about
the dangers of accidental poisonings and to take
responsible 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 the week
beginning March 19, 2000, as National Poison Prevention
Week. I call upon all Americans to observe

this week by participating in appropriate programs and
activities and by learning how to protect our children
from poisonous substances.

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