BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE
GOVERNOR
LUPUS AWARENESS MONTH AND DAY
2012
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, lupus is an acute and chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system is
unbalanced, causing inflammation and tissue damage to virtually every organ system in the body; and
WHEREAS, lupus can affect any part of the body, including the skin, lungs, heart, kidneys, and
brain; the disease can cause seizures, strokes, heart attacks, miscarriages, and organ failure; and
WHEREAS, lupus strikes mostly women of childbearing age, and African Americans,
Hispanics/Latinos, Asians and Native Americans are two to three times more likely to develop lupus; and
WHEREAS, lupus can be particularly difficult to diagnose because its symptoms are similar to
those of many other illnesses, and major gaps exist in understanding the causes and consequences of the
disease; and
WHEREAS, more than half of all people with lupus take four or more years and visit three or
more doctors before obtaining a correct diagnosis; and
WHEREAS, only one new drug has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
specifically for lupus in 52 years, and current treatments for the disease can have damaging side effects; and
WHEREAS, 45,000 North Carolinians are affected by lupus;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do
hereby proclaim May 2012, as “LUPUS AWARENESS MONTH” and May 10, 2012, as “LUPUS
AWARENESS DAY” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of
North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this sixteenth day of April in the year of our Lord two thousand
and twelve and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
