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06/27/2017

Free health testing and celebrity dunking at the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival

 Caring Ambassadors will be on hand to test you and let you dunk others.

Caring Ambassadors Program is offering stress relief and free hepatitis C counseling and testing at the 2017 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival.

Are you Viral? 75% of people with hepatitis C are unaware of their infection The Caring Ambassadors Program has offered free hepatitis C tests (a liver cancer prevention screening) at the Waterfront Blues Festival for the past ten years. Their staff and volunteers will be back for a 11th year in the Caring Ambassadors Health Pavilion along the Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

The Center for Disease Control recommends every person born between 1945-1965 get a one-time test! At least 65,000 Oregonians have been infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Shockingly many remain unaware of this life-threatening infectious disease. In Oregon, the death rate surpassed HIV death in 1998 and the number of people dying from hepatitis C has tripled since 1999. Unfortunately, hepatitis C (HCV) is also on the rise with a 290% increase from 2010-2014.

“In the last ten years, we have tested close to 3,000 people at the festival,” Sandt said. “We identified 170 people living with hepatitis C. Many more are walking around thinking they are fine. I can’t tell you the number of people we’ve diagnosed who have just been shocked.”

Caring Ambassadors Health Pavilion sponsors MusiCares who help local artists when they are ill and provides a Safe Harbor Room, daily 12- Step meetings in in the Caring Ambassadors Health Pavilion.

For fun stress relief, they are also sponsoring a dunk tank, populated with band members, local celebrities, and Caring Ambassadors Program staff, as a fundraiser. All net proceeds will be divided between the Caring Ambassadors Program and the Oregon Food Bank.

WHAT: FREE Hepatitis C Counseling and Testing FREE Safe Harbor Room Daily at 11AM Stress Relief at the Dunk Tank Noon 6PM Daily

WHO: All Waterfront Blues Attendees

WHEN: June 30 – July 4, 2017 Testing available when gates open till 7PM daily, Dunk tank Noon till 6PM

WHERE: Waterfront Blues Festival, Caring Ambassadors Health Pavilion Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Portland, OR

"In 1988 I got diagnosed with Hep C, and by 2006 I was diagnosed with liver cancer. Hep C is the leading cause of liver cancer, which is the second-deadliest cancer. I was cured of hepatitis C in 2017. I strongly urge everyone to get tested while they can. The Caring Ambassadors Health Pavilion is an excellent opportunity to get that done.” —Curtis Salgado

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