(WTNH) – October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and state officials are encouraging women to get their annual breast cancer screenings.

Governor Ned Lamont, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, and Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani held an event on Wednesday to talk about why women should get annual breast cancer screenings.

“Prevention is really the key to all health. Getting your mammogram is the one thing you can do to stay on track of health. If you detect breast cancer early, then you have a 98.6 percent chance of survival for five years, whereas if you detect it late and Stage 4 breast cancer is found, then your survival rate over five years is only 25 percent,” Bysiewicz said.

The state provides resources to help people who are uninsured and undocumented get mammograms for free.