January is Cervical Health Awareness Month, and the state health department encourages women ages 21-74 across Colorado to talk to their health care providers about scheduling a Pap test.

A Pap test is the first line of defense against cervical cancer. When cervical cancer is found early, more than 92% of women have a five-year survival rate.

Every year in the U.S., about 13,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and about 4,250 women die of the disease. African American women and Latinas have a higher risk of developing cervical cancer, and African American women have a higher cervical cancer death rate.

The Women’s Wellness Connection offers free cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services to Colorado women ages 21 to 64 who have little or no health insurance and meet income requirements.

To be eligible for the Women’s Wellness Connection, women must earn less than 250% of the federal poverty level and have no health insurance or have health insurance with high deductibles or co-pays.

For more information about where to find a provider, visit womenswellnessconnection.org or call (866) 951-9355.

To schedule a local appointment for a well woman exam, call the San Juan Basin Public Health Sexual Health Clinic at 335-2015 or visit www.sjbpublichealth.org/sexualhealthclinic.