Poland has introduced a free preventative healthcare scheme for people aged over 40 in an effort to bolster public health and limit the future impact of pandemics.
The free test package will be available to all adults aged 40 and over who sign up through an online questionnaire via the state-run Internet Patient Account (IKP) or through a medical hotline.
After an assessment of risk factors, the system will offer a package of between 8 and 12 tests tailored to each patient. Registration opened on 1 July and the scheme will run until at least the end of the year.
📢Masz 40 lat lub więcej? Wejdź na https://t.co/UWo1TwIZ0L. Zaloguj się na swoje #IKP. Wypełnij ankietę online i uzyskaj #eskierowanie na odpowiednie dla Ciebie badania.
Rusza Program #Profilaktyka40Plus.Szczegóły➡️ https://t.co/swWimRuUlO@MZ_GOV_PL @NFZ_GOV_PL #ezdrowie pic.twitter.com/nndNe4YY0x
— Centrum e-Zdrowia (@CentrumeZdrowia) July 1, 2021
Speaking at the launch, health minister Adam Niedzielski said that the programme would “help restore health after the pandemic” and “prepare Poles for such events in the future”.
Later, the minister wrote that by noon the scheme had already drawn 11,000 sign-ups, including 9,000 submitting the extended questionnaire on health risks.
Meanwhile, current limitations on admissions to specialist doctors will also be lifted until the end of the year. In March, Poland’s National Health Fund (NFZ) recommended that medical procedures should be limited or temporarily suspended to ensure capacity for the growing number of COVID-19 patients.
As a result, some medical experts fear that the overall state of public health has deteriorated as people put off regular checks and postponed elective surgeries.
The wider push to bolster public health comes as Poland reported no Covid-related deaths for the first time since 27 March 2020 this week, continuing a downward trend since the peak of its third wave in April.
However, the vaccination rate in the country has now dropped below the EU average, with around 44% of the Polish population having had at least one dose of a vaccine. This week the government pledged to start calling unvaccinated people to encourage registration.
With increased talk of a fourth wave of the virus, Niedzielski said that a renewed surge of the pandemic could begin as early as in the second half of August.
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
