Description
Preventive examinations and tests organized according to the age of the population and lead by general practitioners who integrate the care and refer for specialized consultation. Based on a comprehensive interview individuals aged more than 18 years receives a set of diagnostic tests. Depending on the results, groups of individuals with an increased risk of developing specific diseases are formed and those individuals are further monitored and consulted by GPs and specialists. The groups are 1) increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, 2) increased risk for Diabetes, 3) Malignant neoplasm of the cervix, 4) Malignant neoplasm of the breast, 5) Malignant neoplasm of the rectosigmoid region and 6) Malignant neoplasm of the prostate For male 40+ and female 50+ in primary prevention settings, an additional test for the total, HDL, LDL and triglycerides (performed once every 5 years) together with a SCORE/SCORE2 evaluation are also available. Dispancerization (systematic health screening and preventive care process) for the patients with previous CV events with additional tests at yearly basis is led mainly by GPsProgram launch date
From 3.11.2016Responsible entity
National Health Fund / Ministry of Health (free for the patient)Available results and quality metrics
Not available. According to NHIF data, in 2022, 2.3 million people underwent an annual preventive examination. A representative survey on the attitudes of Bulgarians towards annual preventive examinations, 32% of respondents said they last had an annual check-up this year, 31% said they did so last year, and 15% said they did so more than two years ago. 11% of respondents said they had never had an annual check-up.Limitations / comments
The main limitation is the relatively small number of individuals taking advantage of the opportunities offered by preventive examinations. The idea of forming groups of individuals at increased risk of developing diseases, although a good one, in the absence of adequate funding does not fulfil its main goal of timely prevention. More focus on CVD prevention should be laid in the program, with comprehensive emphasis on the most prevalent CVD risk factors, like hypertension, lipid disorders, obesity, smoking or additional new factors like lipoprotein(a) and inflammation. The introduction of risk based strategies may influence the interest of practicing physicians.