Free cancer screenings are offered

By Emily Richmond

Thursday, Aug. 16, 2001 | 8:24 a.m.

The Women's Health Connection of Las Vegas, with extra funds from a federal grant, is offering free breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income women without health insurance.

The clinic, operated by the state Health Division, refers women to participating physicians for the exams.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which helped launch the clinic about four years ago, notified administrators that additional funds had become available but must be spent by Sept. 30, said Rocio Hernandez of the Women's Health Connection.

Low-income women who are between the ages of 40 and 64, who have no health insurance and not on Medicaid or Medicare may qualify for the free screenings. Single women must earn less than $21,475 a year. The household income requirement increases slightly with each additional person in the household.

Women who have regular mammograms may reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer by up to 63 percent, a study released in September showed. Early detection of cervical cancer has a survival rate of nearly 100 percent, the CDC reports.

To find out more about the Women's Health Connection, call 212-6381.