Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Month, 2001

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Part VIII

The President

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Proclamation 7495--Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Month, 2001

Proclamation 7496--National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month,
2001

Proclamation 7497--National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, 2001

Proclamation 7498--National Family Caregivers Month, 2001

Proclamation 7499--World Freedom Day, 2001

Proclamation 7500--National American Indian Heritage Month, 2001

Proclamation 7501--National Farm-City Week, 2001

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7495 of November 9, 2001

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Month, 2001

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Approximately 16 million American adults suffer from a
devastating disease for which there is no cure. The
disease is called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
(COPD), and it is a growing problem in this country and
throughout the world. COPD claims more than 100,000
lives per year, drains the American economy of an
estimated $30.4 billion each year, and is the fourth
leading cause of death in the United States today,
exceeded only by heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

COPD is a medical term for a group of respiratory
conditions that includes emphysema and chronic
bronchitis. COPD results in gradual, irreversible
damage to the lungs. Since the symptoms progress
gradually, COPD patients may not even realize in the
early stages that they have the disease. Over the
years, as the lung damage continues, breathing becomes
increasingly difficult.

Although some patients have an inherited version of the
disease, smoking is the most common cause of COPD.
Exposure to toxic substances in the environment such as
industrial pollutants, aerosol sprays, nontobacco
smoke, and internal combustion engine exhaust may also
aggravate or contribute to COPD. While our ultimate
goal is to prevent this often-fatal disease, we now
need better treatments. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease Month offers us the opportunity to increase our
knowledge of this disease and to consider what we can
do to reduce its occurrence.

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 November 2001, as Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Month. I call upon the
people of the United States to observe this month with
appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities to
raise awareness of COPD and its impact on communities
and to improve the quality of life of those who suffer
from the disease.

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

(Presidential Sig.)B