The American Cancer Society says it costs about $330 per woman for both breast cancer and cervical cancer screening. Utah gets about $2.5 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to screen women ages 50-64 who are at or below 250 percent of poverty. The state provides $485,000 from its share of the tobacco settlement to pay for screening for women, including "stretching the base" to those 40-49. Still, only about 6.5 percent of income-eligible women are screened for the diseases through the program, said Michael Siler, local American Cancer Society director of government relations.

Hispanic women are most at risk of developing cervical cancer, Herbert said — twice as likely to develop it as Caucasians, while African Americans are 50 percent more likely.

More than half of women who develop cervical cancer rarely or never had a Pap test, according to the American Cancer Society.

Herbert said the campaign in Utah will kick off this Saturday during the "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" walk in Liberty Park. The Utah group hopes over the next few months to distribute 8,000 of the education packets and bead kits.

Information about the disease is online at www.maketheconnection.org.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com