Gender diversity

The Centre for Population Screening receives data from the Personal Records Database (BRP) to send invitations. We receive your gender based on your municipal registration. The Centre for Population Screening does not have information about your physical characteristics, such as whether you have a uterus and/or breast tissue.

The Centre for Population Screening receives data from the Personal Records Database (BRP) for sending invitations. If the information on the birth certificate changes, and thus in the BRP, the Centre for Population Screening receives a change notification. The same happens, for example, with a change of address. Thanks to this change notification, our clients' information is always up to date (this only happens for clients who fall within the age category of the population screening programmes).

• I'm not sure whether I have a uterus or breast tissue.
• I find it confronting.
• The screening is emotionally taxing for me.
• I have other doubts.

If you have any doubts about participating in the cervical or breast cancer screening programme, you can discuss this with your doctor.

• If you are registered as a woman within the screening age range, you will automatically receive an invitation. For cervical cancer screening, this applies to all individuals aged 30 to 60. For breast cancer screening, this applies to all individuals aged 50 to 75.
• If you are registered as a man or X/O, please register once at our website.
• After registering, you will automatically receive invitations from now on.

To conduct the population screening programme, we need to process your data. We comply with privacy regulations and will therefore contact you to verify your information.

You can unsubscribe via Mijn Bevolkingsonderzoek (online clientportal) on our website using your DigiD. You can also contact our information line; they can initiate the process for you. You will then receive a cancellation form. We need your signature to definitively unsubscribe.

We use your gender registration in the Personal Records Database (BRP) to address you. Would you prefer to be addressed differently? You can submit your preferred salutation via Mijn Bevolkingsonderzoek (online client portal) or contact our information line.

Participation in the population screening programme is free. The government pays for the screening. The follow-up screening is not part of the population screening program. Its costs are covered by your health insurance. You may have to pay all or part of the costs yourself if you have not yet used up your deductible. If you have any questions about this, please contact your health insurer.

We've documented this in the National Privacy Regulations for Population Surveys. Have you received a letter notifying you of a change in your information? This letter doesn't contain any information about which information has changed, thus protecting your privacy even if someone else (accidentally) reads your letter.

Our post never indicates which population screening programme it concerns.

If you change your gender registration after receiving an invitation for the population screening programme (cervical cancer or breast cancer), you can simply use this invitation. You will not be automatically invited to the next round. If you would like to continue receiving invitations, you can register via our website.

Are you registered as a woman?
Then you will receive your first invitation around the age of 50. 

Are you between 50 and 75 years old and have you had an administrative gender change to female?
Then you will receive an invitation as soon as possible.

Are you registered as a man or as an X/O?
Then you must register yourself. This is possible after the age of 50. Have you registered? An employee of Bevolkingsonderzoek Nederland will contact you to complete your registration and discuss where and when you can go.

People under 50 often have a lot of glandular and connective tissue in their breasts. This tissue is more sensitive to radiation. This tissue also makes it more difficult to assess X-rays of the breasts. 

People over 75 are more likely to have breast cancer that someone would not have had during their lifetime. In addition, people over 75 are more likely to have other diseases.

The mammography unit is accessible to everyone. We make no distinction. If you still want to have the screening done in the hospital, the costs are for your own account.

If you do not have breast tissue, it is not useful to participate. If in doubt, consult your GP.

If breast prostheses have been placed in the breasts, you can also participate in the population screening programme. It is recommended not to participate earlier than 6 months after placement of the prostheses. The presence of prostheses can be reported to the employee in advance of the screening. This allows the pressure that is applied during the screening to be taken into account.

The information leaflet for transgender people explains how you can register for the first time. This is done by telephone. During this conversation, a number of questions are asked to determine whether you are undergoing a gender reassignment procedure or have undergone one and can therefore participate. In addition, your age is of course requested, because only people between the ages of 50 and 75 can participate in the breast cancer screening programme.

The employees of Bevolkingsonderzoek Nederland who work at the information line are specially trained to properly address you as a transgender person. If you are not satisfied with this, or have not been approached in the screening center in the way you wanted, they would like to hear from you in order to improve this service. You can find the contact details of Bevolkingsonderzoek Nederland at www.bevolkingsonderzoeknederland.nl. 

In the scientific literature it can be found that people who received hormone therapy for breast development do not have a higher risk of breast cancer. You can still participate in the breast cancer screening programme if you are of the age to participate, so between 50 and 75 years.

You are free to choose when, after starting your hormone therapy for breast growth, you register for the population screening programme. The advice is to do this after 1 year after starting hormone therapy, because most people's breast growth has stabilized by then. Always adhere to the age limits of the breast cancer screening programme: between 50 and 75 years.

On 1 July 2014, a law was amended to make it easier to change the gender on a birth certificate. Gender reassignment surgery is no longer required for this. The screening organisation receives data from the BRP (Personal Records Database) to send out invitations. If the data on the birth certificate changes, and thus on the BRP, this also has consequences for whether or not you receive invitations for the cervical cancer screening programme. On the Gender Diversity page you can read more about participation in cancer screening programmes for transgender people and people with an X/O gender registration.

Are you registered as a woman?
Then you will receive your first invitation around your 30th birthday. If you registered as a woman after your 30th birthday, you will receive the invitation as soon as possible after the change.

Are you registered as a man or as an X/O?
Then you must register yourself. You can do this after your 30th birthday and you will not receive a reminder. You will receive your first invitation as soon as possible after registering. You can register via our website, after which a member of the Centre for Population Screening will contact you.

We can only receive your information if you are part of our target group.

For people under 30, the disadvantages of screening outweigh the benefits. These individuals have a higher risk of contracting HPV (human papillomavirus) and slightly abnormal cells. The body almost always eliminates this HPV and the abnormal cells itself. Too many people would be treated unfairly or cause unnecessary concern. Therefore, you will receive an invitation starting at age 30.

Yes, that's possible. After receiving the invitation, you can request the self-test kit via Mijn Bevolkingsonderzoek (online clientportal) using your DigiD. The self-test kit will be sent to your home address within 14 days. The user manual provides step-by-step instructions on how to use the self-test kit.

You can visit your family doctor for a free smear test for the cervical cancer screening programme. You can have a smear test performed by your family doctor or a doctor's assistant.

If you have a smear test taken by a specialist outside of your general practice, it is not covered by the cervical cancer screening program. You may have to pay (part of) the costs yourself; please contact your health insurer about this. You can also request a self-test kit from us: this will test for an HPV infection. If not, and you are not experiencing any symptoms, a smear test is not necessary.

This depends on your personal situation, you can discuss this with your doctor.

For the colorectal cancer screening programme, all people aged 55 to 75 are invited; gender registration plays no role in this.