​Asymptomatic people aged 40 and over who are not known to have a health problem benefit from a range of preventative health services, which are 100% paid for by the NHI. What is it and when is it recommended to consult a doctor?

“Prevention is the way to a healthy and long life. Spending two to three hours on a simple health risk assessment consultation can be the most valuable decision you make. More importantly, when nothing hurts, we have no symptoms. Most cancers and chronic diseases are initially asymptomatic. Remember that prevention is not only important, but also the best investment you can make for yourself and your loved ones. It may save your life, but it costs nothing,” says CNAS President Dr. Andrei Bachiu.

For the age category +40 years, up to 3 consultations per year are taken into account, which can be provided with an interval of a maximum of 6 consecutive months for:

• Lifestyle assessment and monitoring,

• Assessment of cardiovascular risk (blood pressure, cholesterol level, blood sugar),

• Cancer risk assessment,

• Chronic kidney disease risk assessment,

• Mental health risk assessment,

• Reproductive health risk assessment,

• Malignant melanoma risk assessment.

As part of preventive consultations, asymptomatic insured persons over the age of 40, with modified risk factors, receive annual laboratory tests based on a referral issued by a family doctor, if in the year in which preventive consultations are carried out, individual risk, they did not perform these tests.

More than 80% of the laboratory tests carried out as a result of preventive consultations in the II quarter, in insured persons over 40 years of age, were for the detection of prostate cancer. This is an analysis that can be done free of charge in this age group on the recommendation of a family doctor.

Recommended studies:

• General blood test

• SOE

• glucose

• Serum total cholesterol

• LDL cholesterol

• Serum creatinine with determination of estimated glomerular filtration rate – GFR

• PSA in men

• TGO

• THP

• determination of the albumin/creatinine ratio in urine

• visualization of senology in women (mammography)

• Pap test after 2 years in women with symptoms,

• TSH and FT4 in women

Why is prevention important?

As of the end of the first quarter of the current year, there were 143,033 insured persons included in the national oncology program. Cancer detected at an early stage is much easier to treat, according to the National Health Insurance Agency.

In total, in the II quarter, 14,401 preventive consultations were provided by family doctors for the age group over 40, the most in:

• Bucharest – 2369

• Timișoara – 1474

• German – 877

• Arad – 818

During the same period, 219,530 laboratory tests were conducted on the referrals of family doctors after providing preventive consultations to this age group, of which:

• 177888 PSA antigen in men (a useful marker in the detection of prostate cancer)

• 15,316 analog mammograms in 2 planes (detection of breast cancer)

• 26326 Babeş-Pap test after 2 years in women with symptoms (cervical cancer detection)

Photo: Dreamstime.com.