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T he P ortland O bserver • A ugust 2, 1995
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Saturday Clinics For Healthy Kids
Free Immunizations Offered To Prevent Childhood Diseases
Many children undo age two go
unprotected against life-threatening,
yet preventable childhood diseases,
because they are not properly immu­
nized.
To help improve the immuniza­
tion rate and subsequent health of
children, aseries of free vaccinations
to all children will be held Saturday
at several Portland locations.
County health clinics are spon­
soring the “immunize For Healthy
Lives” clinics with the support of
McDonalds Restaurants, Fred Meyer
Stores and the Oregon Nurses Asso­
ciation.
August is the usual back-to-
school vaccination rush, a time when
most parents take their school-aged
children to be immunized before re­
turning to the classroom.
But many parents do not know
that vaccinations need to begin at
infancy.
“Before they’re two years old,
children need most of their immuni­
zations, about 15 of them,” said Peggy
Hillman, immunization coordinator
for the Muitnomah County Health
Department.
“One benefit for parents is that
several immunizations can be give in
one visit. We will be able to provide
these vaccines, tree of cost during
our back-to-school immunization
drive,” Hillman said.
The nurses association also pro­
vides free vaccinations on the first
Saturday of each month, year-round
at the Pilgrim Lutheran Church in the
Lets neighborhood of southeast Port­
land.
"in the last year, we’ve trained
more than 500 volunteer non-pediat-
ric nurses to help us with this project,
many of which will be helping on the
August 5 immunization day,” said
Sandy Marron, administrator of busi­
ness services for the organization.
Neighborhood Health Clinics,
Inc., another medical partner in the
campaign, also offers free vaccina­
tions to children on every other Sat­
urday throughout the year.
McDonalds restaurants in the
area will provide in-store materials
to help educate parents and children
on the need for proper immuniza­
tions.
Education pamphlets at special
wallet-sized immunization cards can
be picked up at local McDonald's.
Children who receive vaccina­
tions on Aug. 5 will also receive a
free treat from McDonalds.
Fred Meyer will print flies and
color books, listing the clinics on
grocery bags and provide free hy­
gienic materials such as bandages
and tooth brushes to be handed out at
vaccination clinics throughout the
year.
Additional support is being do­
nated by Kiwanis International, Ro­
tary C lubs and the American Legion.
In Multnomah County, the im­
m unizations will be provided
Saturdayfrom 9 a m. to noon at the
Northeast Health Center, 5329 N.E.
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and the
Southeast Health Clinic at 3653 S.E.
34th Ave.
Other clinics on Saturday are
held from 10a.m. to 2 p.in. Locations
include the Portland Fire Bureaus at
7205 N. Alta Ave. and at 13313 N.E.
African American men 40 and
older should undergo annual tests
for prostate cancer. The tests are
necessary since this disease often
does not show symptoms for many
years. When symptoms do occur,
they may include:
• Frequent urination, especially
at night.
• Inability to urinate, or trouble
starting or holding back urination.
• Pain or a burning feeling dur­
ing urination.
• Blood or urine in semen.
Kids Books Give Health
Children’s books are not just for
children; they do a lot for the elderly
as well, according to a University of
Florida researcher.
Robert Beland, associate pro-
fessoroftherapeutic recreation at the
university, said bibliotherapy, or the
use o f reading, listening or writing as
therapy for illnesses and disability, is
extremely effective at improving the
life of the elderly population.
In particular, children's books
written in the past 15 years show
older adults in a positive light, with
elderly characters who are indepen­
dent and competent and still contrib-
Polio, Measles, Diphtheria,
Whooping Cough, if your
kids aren't immunized by
age two, you're making a
big mistake. Talk to your
doctor, nurse practitioner,
or Health Department.
Call 1-800-SAFENET for a
list of free clinics in your
area.
Sponsored in part by:
McDonald's® Restaurants of
Oregon/SW Washington
Saturday, August 5th is Free Immunization Day
in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties.
Saturday, A u g u st 5th is Im m u n ize D a y
ute to their families and society, he
said.
“Because elderly people want to
feel useful and needed, these stories
do something very important by pro­
viding positive role models,” Beland
said of his research on the benefits of
reading to older people.
Reading children's books to the
elderly stimulates their memory, al­
leviates their anxieties and helps them
cope with death and dying, he said.
He noted that elderly people
share certain characteristics with
young children, such as shorter at­
tention spans due to memory loss.
President Says AIDS
Fight Must Continue
President Clinton has called
for increased spending on AIDS
research and chided critics who
would “pit one disease against an­
other" by saying funding should be
d irected to other medical problems.
Clinton, addressing his Presi­
dential Commission on HIV and
AIDS, said he was “very, very
pleased” by the Senate vote Thurs­
day to continue funding for pro­
grams providing care for AIDS pa­
tients.
He said it was time to “redou­
ble our determination, even in this
season of balanced budgeting, to
reinvest even more and more of our
nation's wealth into medical re­
search into AIDS and medical re­
search of all kinds.”
“This is not the time to slow
down or retreat,” he said. “ It is not
the time to give in. AIDS is the
challenge that all of us face."
He dismissed critics who com­
plain that AIDS research has di­
verted funding from other medical
problems like cancer. “I think we
can attack this disease without at­
tacking each other.”
“When we begin to pit one
disease against another or one group
of people against another in this
country we all wind up behind,"
Clinton said.
Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., who
charged homosexuals were largely
to blame for the disease, had de-
• Painful ejaculation.
• Persistent pain in the lower
back, hips or upper thighs.
These symptoms may not mean
prostate cancer, but they should be
checked out by a doctor.
Prostate cancer is generally
treated three ways: surgery to
remove the tumors; radiation
therapy to kill the cancer cells; and
drug treatments to stop cancer
cells from growing.
sion, and the East County Health
Department at 620 N.E. Second Ave.
Some Boo-Boos, A kiss can’t fix.
Prostate Cancer Hits African Americans Hardest
According to the American
Cancer Society, African American
men have the highest rate in the
world of cancer of the prostate, a
walnut-sized gland located below
the bladder. The disease is almost
twice as common among blacks
than whites and, partly because
blacks are generally diagnosed
later, they have a higher death rate.
While all men over 50 are consid­
ered “at risk” for this disease,
African American men are consid­
ered “at risk” when they reach 40.
San Rapael; the East Portland Fam-
ily Care Clinic al 17214 S E. Divi-
FREE Immunizations will be available at all of the following locations-
El sa b a d o 5 d e a gosto es D ía d e V acunas
Se vacunará GRATIS en las siguientes localidades:
M ultnom ah County
neighborhood Health Clinics, Inc.
Northeast Health Center
5329 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
9:00 am -12:00 noon
Portland Fire Bureau
7205 N, Alta Avenue
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Portland Fire Bureau
13313 NE San Rafael
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
layed the Senate vote and com­
plained that AIDS research was di­
verting too much money from the
study of cancer and heart disease,
which kill more people.
Despite Helms’ strong opposi-
t ion, the Senate overwhelm ingly vot­
ed to extend the Ryan White Care
Act, which provides care for AIDS
victims.
The law, named for a teen-age
Indiana hemophiliac who died after I
contracting AIDS through a blood
transfusion, provides emergency
relief for cities hard hit by AIDS,
funding for home care services, pri­
vate insurance for individuals who
lose coverage and pediatric AIDS
care.
Members of the council were
generally pleased with what they I
heard from the president, but chair­
man Scott Hitt said they asked him
to show “an awful lot more leader­
ship on this issue."
"I think we are in danger o f I
lapsing into a complacency about
this disease, and that’s why it takes
presidential leadership to come out
there and say. like President
Kennedy said, we can put a man on
the moon in 10 years. We need
President Clinton to come out there
and say this is how we're going to
end the epidemic in a very short
time," Hitt said.
Hitt serves on the board of direc­
tors of AIDS Project Los Angeles.
Clackamas Cou n ty
County Health Department Clinic
1425 S Kaen Road
Oregon City
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
East Portland FamilyCare Clinic
17214 SE Division
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
East County Health Center
620 NE 2nd Avenue in Gresham
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Wichita Elementary School
6031 SE King Road
Milwaukie
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Oregon Nurses Association
Immunization Clinic
Pilgrim Lutheran Church
4244 SE 91st
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Molalla Grade School
318 Leroy Street
Molalla
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Eastmoreland Hospital
2900 SE Steele Street
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Goodwill Industries
1943 SE 6th Avenue
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
*
Hillsdale Community Church
6948 SW Capitol Highway
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
County Health Department Clinic
38872 Proctor Blvd.
Sandy
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Neighborhood Health Clinics, Inc.
Southeast Health Center
3653 SE 34th Avenue
9:00 am -12:00 noon
J
Portland Indian Health Clinic
2901 E. Bumside
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Canby Library
292 N. Holly
Canby
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Washington County
Washington County Health Department
ZI_
12550 SW 2nd
(between Hall and Watson in Beaverton)
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center
85 N. 12th - Cornelius
9:00 am - 2:00 pm