Save Your Vision Week, 2011

Proclamation 8635 of March 4, 2011

Save Your Vision Week, 2011

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Across America, millions of men and women experience
vision loss or are affected by low vision or blindness.
During Save Your Vision Week, we reinforce the
importance of routine eye care and remind all Americans
to take action to safeguard their eyesight.

Vision is important to our everyday activities, and we
can all take steps to protect and prolong our eye
health. Through Healthy People 2020, the Department of
Health and Human Services' science-based agenda to
prevent disease and promote health, our country's
leading health officials have identified interventions
to preserve sight and prevent blindness. Though some
eye diseases and injuries are preventable or treatable
with early detection and timely treatment, many
Americans do not receive recommended eye exams and
screenings. Healthy People 2020 advises each American
to get vision check-ups regularly in order to identify
vision impairments at an early stage. For more
information about eye health or help finding an eye
care professional, I encourage all Americans to visit:
www.NEI.NIH.gov.

Preventive eye care, including wearing ultraviolet-
protective eyewear and following good eating habits,
can help support a healthy and active lifestyle at any
age. By seeking out information and taking action to
protect healthy vision--and encouraging others to do so
as well--all Americans can help preserve the precious
gift of sight.

To remind Americans of the importance of safeguarding
their eyesight, the United States Congress, by joint
resolution approved December 30, 1963, as amended (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, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim March 6
through March 12, 2011, as Save Your Vision Week.
During this time, I invite eye care professionals,
teachers, members of the media, and all organizations
dedicated to preserving eyesight to join in activities
that will raise awareness of eye and vision health.

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