The lottery, in which you will be able to win admission cards to sports facilities throughout the country, will start, the health ministry informed on Friday, "after the holidays". Changes are needed because the flagship program, which started operating a year ago (July 1, 2021), has not yet been successful. Out of approximately 20 million eligible persons, 600,000 were tested, and a little over a million registered in the program. In recent months, you could even feel the frustration of Minister Adam Niedzielski, who repeatedly emphasized that Poles - not caring about their health, neglecting prophylaxis, including regular examinations - are responsible for the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e. one of the highest among countries EU and OECD excess death rates.
Poles are to be encouraged by a lottery, but the ministry hopes that GPPs, thanks to financial bonuses, will become more involved in promoting the program and - for example - help patients register and receive e-referrals. This is the result of the survey results: out of 100,000 people participating in the program that completed it, every fourth indicated that encouragement from doctors would certainly translate into the number of people who would undergo the tests. - We are currently working on the final formula of this bonus, on the one hand to give gratification for the fact that the POZ staff will help, especially the elderly, to complete the questionnaire, but first of all we want to appreciate medical entities for the fact that their patient undergoes the "Prophylaxis 40 Plus" test - says Filip Nowak, president of the National Health Fund.
- I am happy with these 600 thousand. people who, thanks to our program, could learn about their health, but it is still not enough. The minimum that we expect from "Prevention 40 Plus" is 2 million tests. As a society, we must become convinced that routine diagnosis is the basis of our healthy life. We have to start taking care of ourselves so that the next epidemics do not affect us as much as COVID-19 - summarizes the Minister of Health in a special announcement.
The program is being extended for the second time, and the Ministry of Health has signaled in recent weeks that it is ultimately to be included in occupational medicine.
