IU School of Medicine offering free breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings Tuesday

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Women who need access to breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings, HIV tests, and other similar services are invited to Tuesday’s See, Test and Treat event hosted by the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Members of the department will provide the cancer screenings. Other services, including mammograms, family planning, HPV vaccinations, blood sugar evaluations, and HIV testing will also be available.

All of the services are free, according to Dr. Gail Vance, a professor at the IU School of Medicine.

“Women who are underserved or do not have insurance can come in and get these free cancer screenings and they get same-day results from this,” Vance said. “They’ll get the results of the mammogram in a couple of days, but they’ll get the Pap test screening results the very same day.”

Vance says it’s important to get women back into the routine of going to the doctor and getting screened after the pandemic.

“With COVID-19, there’s been a drop in regular screening care and people have not gone to their physicians, have been either uncomfortable or unable to pay, and so what happens here is we can offer that screening and then help them get into regular care as well,” Vance said.

The event runs until 5 p.m. at the Gennesaret Free Clinic at 2325 E. New York St. Anyone interested in getting screened should come in person.