BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE
GOVERNOR
Public Health Month
2009
By the Governor of the State of North Carolina
A Proclamation
WHEREAS, we hereby recognize and acknowledge 129 years of public health service to
the residents ofNorth Carolina, and the immeasurable contribution of these services to
the quality of life in our State; and
WHEREAS, public health measures to control and eliminate infectious diseases, improve
environmental sanitation, and promote healthy lifestyle practices have been the greatest
cause of improved health status and increased life expectancy for Nmih Carolina's
residents; and
WHEREAS, public health plays a critical role in eliminating health inequities and
preventing chronic diseases and injuries, resulting in improved productivity and
- decreased health care costs for all of North Carolina's citizens; and
WHEREAS, a continued focus on prevention has resulted in a 20 percent decline in heart
disease since 2000, a 32 percent decline in stroke deaths since 2000, and a 17 percent
decline in the teen pregnancy rate among minorities since 2000; and
WHEREAS, North Carolina's public health system is a critical component of the state ' s
emergency response capacity to natural and man-made disasters and widespread disease
outbreaks in North Carolina;
OW, THEREFORE, I, BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE, Govemor of the State of North
Carolina, do hereby proclaim April 2009 as "PUBLIC HEALTH MONTH" in North
Carolina and urge our citizens to recognize that public health is working to ensure that all
North Carolinians are protected from threats such as influenza, food-bome di.sease, and
chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and asthma.
BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE
IN , I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the
State ofNorth Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this 15111 day of April2009 in the year of
our Lord two thousand and nine, and of the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and thitiy-third.