All Dutch citizens are invited, at a certain point in their lives, to participate in one of the national screening programmes. The State initiates, sets up and finances three cancer and six prenatal and neonatal population screening programmes. The RIVM Centre for Population Screening (RIVM-CvB) directs and manages the National Population Screening Programme on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
National Population Screening Programme
A population screening programme is a systematic offer of medical examinations for a specific disease to a population of apparently healthy, asymptomatic individuals. The National Population Screening Programme consists of nine screening programmes.
The screening programmes are intended to identify diseases at an early stage so that prompt treatment can be given. In the case of prenatal screenings, parents are informed about the health of their expected child and on the options available.
Cancer screening programmes
Prenatal and neonatal screening programmes
- Prenatal screening for infectious diseases and erythrocyte immunisation (blood tests)
- Screening for chromosomal abnormalities (NIPT: non-invasive prenatal testing)
- Screening for physical abnormalities (13-week scan)
- Screening for physical abnormalities (20-week scan)
- Newborn hearing screening
- Heel prick screening
Public values
RIVM was commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) to coordinate the National Population Screening Programme. The implementation of these programmes must meet the public values as described by the government: quality, accessibility and affordability. The objective is to achieve health benefits and offer citizens treatment options through a familiar, accessible, safe and integrated range of high-quality population screening at reasonable costs.
The Population Screening Act
The Netherlands is one of the few countries worldwide where the preconditions for screening are legally established in the Population Screening Act (WBO). This Act was introduced in 1992 and provides protection against unnecessary or harmful screening programmes. It outlines all the requirements that have to be met to ensure the quality of the screening.
A WBO permit is required for the following screenings in order to execute a screening programme:
- Screenings making use of ionising radiation (x-ray)
- Screenings for cancer
- Screenings for severe non-preventable diseases with no possible treatment
The WBO therefore monitors all screenings and not only those of the National Population Screening Programme. If the permit is issued, it means that the screening is scientifically sound, that it is in accordance with legal rules for medical treatment and that the expected efficacy of the population screening outweighs the risks to health.
Implementation of a new screening programme
What steps are taken before a screening programme can be introduced nationwide? The screening programme for colorectal cancer is the most recent addition to the National Population Screening Programme. The phased roll out started in 2014 but the entire realisation process took 13 years. An overview of the implementation process and the involved parties can be found in the factsheet: Lessons learned from the introduction of the colorectal cancer screening programme in the Netherlands.