San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH) is highlighting Breast Cancer Awareness Month throughout October by encouraging women to get screened for the disease. About one in eight women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point. The good news is that many women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early. A mammogram – the screening test for breast cancer – can help find the disease early, when it’s easier to treat.

Women who can’t afford a mammogram may be eligible to receive a free screening through SJBPH’s Women’s Wellness Connection. “The screenings Women’s Wellness Connection provides saves lives,” said Ashley Gonzalez, clinic manager of the Sexual Health Clinic and Women’s Wellness Connection at San Juan Basin Public Health. The Women’s Wellness Connection offers free breast cancer screening to low-income women in the southwest region aged 40-64 and free cervical cancer screening to women aged 21-64 years. The Women’s Wellness Connection offers free breast and cervical cancer screening to low-income women in the southwest region aged 40 to 64 years. If cancer is detected while enrolled in the program, treatment resources are made available. “Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a great time to remind our community about the Woman’s Wellness Connection and to encourage individuals to get screened,” Gonzalez said.

If you are a woman over the age of 40, speak to your doctor about when to start getting mammograms and how often to get them. To find out more about the Women’s Wellness Connection, and to see if you qualify for free breast and cervical cancer screenings, call Ashley Gonzalez at SJBPH at 970-335-2015 or visit https://sjbpublichealth.org/sexualhealthclinic/ for more information.

San Juan Basin Public Health is a local public health agency, governed by a seven-member local Board of Health, serving all residents of Archuleta and La Plata counties. For 70 years, San Juan Basin Public Health has improved the health and environment of the Southwest Colorado.