Seeing a lot of pink lately? It’s to be expected. After all this is October, the month of mammograms and breast cancer awareness. We ran a story on the annual ‘Shout if from the Mountain Top’ event last week.  And now I’m told of an extra push to give uninsured women free mammograms.

Project Access, a Roanoke nonprofit that provides medical treatment for low income uninsured individuals, is hosting a free mammogram event today for 33 preregistered women.

Project Access Executive Director Kate Ellmann told me that the plan is to host at least one more of these events, and possibly two more. For now, she’s looking to get the word out to women who haven’t had a mammogram because they don’t have health insurance and can’t afford it on their own.

Project Access received a $42,700 grant from the local Susan G. Komen affiliate last year with a goal of screening 150 women. The grant was extended into this year so they could offer a few more screenings.

Others in the area also offer free mammograms. Carilion Clinic has this program and Lewis-Gale Medical Center works with Bradley Free Clinic to help arrange for free mammograms.

Even as many health professionals tout the benefits of early detection of breast cancer through mammography, there are others who question it. A nurse practitioner recently wrote in Health Affairs about why she doesn’t get the annual test. What are your thoughts?