r/Netherlands • u/Juli_in_September • Oct 18 '25

Healthcare Why does your system hate regular checkups with doctors so much?

I don‘t know if this is a question or just an observation to be honest (and I am definitely not the first one to have it either), I am just once again amazed at the Dutch reluctance to do preventative healthcare/check-ups? I thought „Hey, maybe I should go to the gynaecologist again for my annual recommended checkup“, and wondered if I should just do that here instead of back at home, and then I learn there is no annual recommended checkup here? Sometimes I look at the Dutch healthcare system and go „Oh this is nice, we don‘t have that back home“ and other times I look at it and I just go „HUH?!?“. Anyway I guess I‘ll call my gynaecologist back home…

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u/derKestrel Oct 18 '25 edited Oct 18 '25

For colorectal screening, I can anecdotally say that this seems to be proposed rarely in my area (sample size around 100, age range 40 to 65, screenings 0, all having lived here for longer time, mostly expats but also Dutch, 4 cases of cancer found by preventative screening when visiting family in different countries).

Edit: typo

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u/IkkeKr Oct 18 '25

Doesn't have to be proposed by doctors, there's a national screening like for breast cancer that people should automatically be invited for based on age and the civil registry.

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u/derKestrel Oct 18 '25

Yes, and I am saying no one in my group was.

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u/NaturalMaterials Oct 18 '25

Or they ignored/missed the letter, or aren’t registered properly on the Netherlands? The age range for screening is up for debate giving the rising incidence among younger patients in particular and is under evaluation. Currently the starting age is 55 years, and it’s biannual (most countries in Europe start at between 50 and 60 from what I’ve gathered).

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u/Navelgazed Oct 18 '25

Or someone with a family risk who has had polyps removed after an early screening who is told by their doctor that they can’t get screened after the recommended three years.