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By virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution of Virginia in the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, there is hereby officially recognized:

Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) Awareness Day

WHEREAS, in Virginia, there are approximately 85,000 individuals with epilepsy and over 11,000 of them are children; and

WHEREAS, Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) is a rare condition that kills nearly one in every thousand individuals with epilepsy each year; and

WHEREAS, individuals affected by SUDEP will die suddenly and without apparent cause; and

WHEREAS, instances of SUDEP were not widely known until 1992, when the first major news article on the condition was published; and

WHEREAS, the causes of SUDEP are still not fully understood; and, while data on SUDEP is available from a variety of sources, there have been no large-scale studies conducted in the United States on the condition; and

WHEREAS, only a limited number of organizations focus exclusively on the research and study of SUDEP; organizations such as Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy in Chicago raise funds for SUDEP, while the North American SUDEP Registry, the Stop SUDEP Program, and SUDEP Aware in Toronto, Canada, conduct research; and

WHEREAS, SUDEP can happen to anyone with epilepsy, but the individuals at the highest risk for SUDEP are those with frequent, generalized tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures; and

WHEREAS, while there are methods for reducing the risk of SUDEP, these methods are unique to the individual and must be discussed with a doctor; and

WHEREAS, a joint report from the American Epilepsy Society and the Epilepsy Foundation states that, among individuals with poorly controlled seizures, the risk increases to one death in every hundred people with epilepsy each year; and

WHEREAS, while certain people are at higher risk for SUDEP than others, not all risk factors are conclusively known and agreed upon; and

WHEREAS, due to a lack of awareness, the diagnosis of SUDEP is low and often does not appear on a death certificate, leading to incomplete statistics on the condition; and

WHEREAS, it is important to understand the nature and causes of SUDEP, seek to mitigate risk factors and prevent SUDEP, and increase awareness of SUDEP in the Commonwealth and throughout the United States;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Glenn Youngkin, do hereby recognize October 16, 2024, as SUDEP AWARENESS DAY in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.