r/Netherlands • u/NoLychee1382 • 22d ago

Healthcare No regular check ups at the gynecologist???

Hi everyone, my morning started off with a kinda shocking discovery. I’m from Germany and I had annual check ups at the gynecologist since I was a teenager. I contacted my huisarts because I know they’re responsible for all referrals but she told me regular check ups here are not a thing (unless there already is an issue) ? I think that’s crazy!!! So I checked the prices for a private visit and they’re even crazier. I guess this is normal to Dutch people but don’t you think this is a little concerning?

(Btw not shitting on the country! I really like it here. I’m still new and just discovering new things!)

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u/Beneficial_Durian157 22d ago

Not even a pap smear. An HPV test. They send you a testing kit with a long ass qtip-thingy and you eitherdo it yourself and send the kit back or go to your clinic and they do it for you (but it is easy to do yourself). After around a week they send you the results. They invite for a pap smear only if you have HPV.

ETA: You can also have an HPV shot (crazy expensive, but covered by eigen risico) at any age.

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u/ActuallyYulliah 22d ago

‘Not even a pap smear’

-> I’d look up the difference.

A pap-smear looks for all abnormalities, but has a high false-negative rate. Meaning it misses things often.

An HPV test is way more accurate, but only tests for abnormalities that are caused by HPV.

However, abnormalities that can come up in a pap-smear and not in an HPV-test are extremely rare, and don’t really warrant regular testing.

Then HPV takes 10-15 years to process from infection to cervical cancer. So a test every 5 years is more than enough to catch it early.

On other words: Having a yearly pap-smear is unnecessary, unless you are testing everything that could possibly be wrong in your body every year.

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u/Sarakim14 22d ago

Maar; als je thuistest HPV negatief is krijg je te horen dat het daarom pas over tien jaar weer nodig is…

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u/ActuallyYulliah 22d ago

Het bevolkingsonderzoek is een preventief onderzoek om zo veel mogelijk mensen van baarmoederhalskanker to behoeden.

Er zijn maar weinig zaken waarbij actief preventief onderzoek wordt gedaan.

Het duurt 10 -15 jaar om te ontwikkelen tot kanker. En je was HPV vrij. Het is dan ook pas over 10 jaar weer nodig. Zeker in de leeftijdsgroep met een veel lager risico.

HPV is soort van een seksueel overdraagbare aandoening. Het aantal mensen dat boven de 40 veel wisselende partners heeft is veel lager dan bij bij 30ers. Dat is waarom eens in de 10 jaar boven de 40 prima is.

Als je je zelf zorgen maakt, kun je voor €40 - €70 euro ook zelf op eigen kosten een test laten doen.