WHEREAS, regular screenings to detect both breast and lung cancer early when treatment can be most successful saves lives; and WHEREAS, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women in the U.S. and in the State of Maine; and

WHEREAS, Maine rates of lung cancer diagnoses and death are significantly higher than the U.S. average; and WHEREAS, breast cancer deaths in Maine women have declined in recent years due to research breakthroughs and early detection and treatment; and WHEREAS, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death for both men and women in the U.S. and the State of Maine; and WHEREAS, in 2022, 73.6 percent of Maine women age 40+ reported having had a mammogram in the past two years in accordance with nationally accepted guidelines; and WHEREAS, Maine residents between the ages of 50 and 80 with a 20-pack year smoking history who currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years should talk with their provider about being screened for lung cancer; and

WHEREAS, if a woman living in Maine does not have a medical provider, health insurance, or is underinsured, she can contact the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Breast and Cervical Health Program at 1-800-350-5180 to see if she qualifies for free breast and cervical cancer screenings and diagnostic tests, along with treatment for breast and cervical cancer; and NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the State of Maine, do hereby proclaim the last week in October and the first week in November of 2024 as

Pink and Pearl Awareness Weeks

throughout the State of Maine, and I encourage all citizens to offer support to individuals in taking charge of their health by getting screened for breast and lung cancer.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this twenty eighth day of August Two Thousand Twenty-Four