The State of Colorado is elevating the importance of staying up-to-date on routine cancer screenings, such as mammograms and Pap tests. In an effort to encourage Coloradans to engage in valuable preventive care, the Department of Public Health and Environment is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the Women’s Wellness Connection, a program that offers these life-saving tests for free to women who qualify.
“As someone who was diagnosed with cancer four times, including as a young mother, I am committed to ensuring that all Coloradans have access to affordable, preventive healthcare and treatment,” said Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera. “The Women’s Wellness Connection is a critical program that offers free breast and cervical cancer screenings at more than 100 clinics across Colorado so that cost, lack of health insurance, or immigration status does not get in the way of women catching cancer when chances of survival are highest.”
“As someone who was diagnosed with cancer four times, including as a young mother, I am committed to ensuring that all Coloradans have access to affordable, preventive healthcare and treatment.”
Lt. Governor Dianne Primavera.
One in three women will get cancer in their lifetime, including one in eight who will have invasive breast cancer, but finding it early makes it easier to treat and even prevent. In fact, nearly all women can survive breast cancer and cervical cancer when it is caught in the early stages.
Women over 21 should begin getting checked for cervical cancer every three to five years with a Pap test (also called a Pap smear) and/or an HPV test. Women over 40 can get checked for breast cancer with a mammogram; doctors recommend getting it done every one to two years, depending on age.
The Women’s Wellness Connection program serves women ages 21 to 64 without health insurance or limited insurance and have a demonstrated financial need. To find out more about the program, visit womenswellnessconnection.org. Women can also call the American Cancer Society at 1-866-951-9355 for help finding a clinic that offers free or low-cost cancer screenings as part of the Women’s Wellness Connection program near them.
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