Presidential Document2023-05989
National Poison Prevention Week, 2023
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 22, 2023
Signed
March 17, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 55 (Wednesday, March 22, 2023)</title>
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[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 [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05989]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 22, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
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 <a href="http://poisonhelp.hrsa.gov">poisonhelp.hrsa.gov</a>.
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.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-05989
Filed 3-21-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 22, 2023.
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