Sudden, severe pain in the belly or back in an older person is an emergency, not an appointment: call 112. For an on-call GP at night or at the weekend, call 1733.
What gets added in the years ahead
Each line is a test; each dot is an appointment. Scroll and your age goes up: see what starts and stops at each birthday.
FIT kitBlood pressureCholesterolBlood sugarHepatitis B, CHIV
At 66
Stops: HIV, one-time test
At 71
Stops: Blood sugar test for diabetes
At 75
Stops: Bowel cancer screening (FIT kit)
At 80
Stops: Hepatitis B and C, one-time test
After 74–75 most screening is no longer recommended routinely, because its benefit takes years to arrive. Whether to continue is a decision with your doctor, based on your health and wishes.
What each test is worth
The same question for each: per 1,000 people, how many deaths from the disease does the test prevent? Some numbers come from trials (people invited, or randomly assigned to the test), others from a model that assumes people always attend; each has its own time span, written beside it. For osteoporosis the number is hip fractures, not deaths. So the tests are not ranked on one scale.
Each small square is a person; there are 10,000.
Bowel cancer screening (FIT kit)
50–74, every 2 years
Invisible traces of blood in stool, a sign of polyps and bowel cancer. A positive test leads to a colonoscopy, where polyps can be removed there and then.
If a parent, brother, sister or child had bowel cancer, don't wait for the programme: colonoscopy starts at 40, or 10 years before the age your relative was diagnosed, whichever comes first. Tell your doctor.
24–28per 1,000
bowel cancer deaths avoided per 1,000 people screened from 45 to 75, modelled estimate (US)
modelled estimate
The model assumes a FIT every year (or a colonoscopy every 10 years) from 45. The programme here, every 2 years from 50, prevents somewhat fewer deaths.
What the evidence says
A stool test (FIT) every 2 years from 50 to 74, in all three regions.
Flanders posts the kit to you, free. Brussels: the Colotest is free, ordered online or picked up at any pharmacy. Wallonia: the kit comes through your GP, a pharmacy or the CCRef website, with the code in the letter sent in your birthday month.
18–39, every 3 years (or every 5 years if normal); from 40, every year
High blood pressure, which causes no symptoms and raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.
no death count for the test
No trial compares people whose blood pressure was measured with people whose was not. The benefit comes from treatment, which clearly cuts heart attacks and strokes.
What the evidence says
Measured from 18: every 3–5 years up to 40 if normal, then every year (European and US guidance).
Measured at your GP; there is no separate programme. Consultations are partly reimbursed by your health insurance fund (mutualité / ziekenfonds), more so if you have a global medical record (DMG/GMD) with your GP.
Men: from 40, every 5 years; Women: from 50, every 5 years
Your chance of a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years, worked out from cholesterol, blood pressure, age and smoking.
no death count for the test
The benefit comes from treatment: in 18 trials of adults with no previous heart attack or stroke, statins meant about 3.5 fewer deaths per 1,000 people treated, over 6 months to 6 years.
What the evidence says
European prevention guideline (ESC, 2021): risk assessment with SCORE2 may be considered in men over 40 and women over 50.
Measured at your GP; there is no separate programme. Consultations are partly reimbursed by your health insurance fund (mutualité / ziekenfonds), more so if you have a global medical record (DMG/GMD) with your GP.
Measured at your GP; there is no separate programme. Consultations are partly reimbursed by your health insurance fund (mutualité / ziekenfonds), more so if you have a global medical record (DMG/GMD) with your GP.
25–29, every 3 years (a smear); 30–64, every 5 years (an HPV test)
High-risk types of HPV, which over years can turn cells of the cervix into cancer. A positive test leads to a check of the cells and, if needed, a colposcopy, where changes are found before they become cancer.
8per 1,000
cervical cancer deaths avoided per 1,000 women with an HPV test every 5 years from 30 to 65, compared with none: from 8.34 to 0.29 (modelled estimate, US)
modelled estimate
What the evidence says
From 25 to 29, a smear every 3 years; from 30 to 64, an HPV test every 5 years (since 1 January 2025). The same in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels.
The sample and its analysis are free; you pay only your share of the GP or gynaecologist consultation. Flanders sends invitations; in Brussels there are none, so ask your doctor.
Free. Flanders and Brussels send a letter every 2 years; in Wallonia the letter counts as a prescription for an approved mammography unit. In 2024, 66.9% of women aged 50–69 in Flanders were up to date.
Lung cancer at a stage when it can still be operated on.
3per 1,000
lung cancer deaths prevented per 1,000 heavy smokers scanned yearly, over about 7 years, compared with chest X-ray (NLST)
measured in a trial
Nearly a quarter of scans come back positive at first; almost all turn out to be false alarms.
What the evidence says
No programme yet. The Belgian health knowledge centre (KCE, 2024) found that low-dose CT in high-risk people can lower lung cancer deaths; since 2025 a pilot (ZORALCS, UZA and University of Antwerp) invites current and former smokers aged 55–74 in seven towns south-east of Antwerp.
A swelling of the main artery in the abdomen that causes no pain and no signs until it bursts.
4.6per 1,000
aneurysm deaths prevented per 1,000 men invited to one scan, over 13 years (MASS trial)
measured in a trial
In December 1948 the surgeon Rudolph Nissen opened Albert Einstein's abdomen in Brooklyn and found a large aneurysm on the aorta. There was no way to replace it, so he wrapped it in cellophane to stiffen it. Einstein lived six more years. In April 1955 the aneurysm burst; he refused surgery and died on 18 April. Today the same swelling shows up on a scan that takes a few minutes.
What the evidence says
No screening programme in Belgium.
How to get it
Men over 65 who have smoked can ask their GP for an abdominal ultrasound.
PSA test for prostate cancer
Prostate cancer, including many small tumours that would never have caused harm.
If your father or brother had prostate cancer, or you are of African descent, the PSA conversation starts at 45; with a BRCA2 mutation, at 40 (European urology guideline, EAU).
2.2per 1,000
prostate cancer deaths prevented per 1,000 men aged 55–69 invited to PSA testing, over 23 years (ERSPC)
measured in a trial
More than 45% of men tested at every round had at least one false positive over 10 years, and 20–50% of the cancers found would never have caused harm.
What the evidence says
No screening programme. Belgian evidence-based guidance advises against routine PSA screening: it does not improve life expectancy and leads to needless follow-up.
Private clinics sell 'complete' check-ups. The tests below often appear in them and have no evidence of saving lives in people without symptoms and at average risk; some cause harm. Symptoms need a doctor, not a screening list.
Tumour markers (CEA, CA-125, CA 19-9, CA 15-3, AFP) without symptoms
In two large trials of CA-125, women who were tested were no less likely to die of ovarian cancer. Between 1% and 3% had surgery without having cancer, and up to 15% of those had serious complications.
In South Korea, once thyroid ultrasound was added to routine checks, thyroid cancer diagnoses rose fifteenfold in 18 years while deaths stayed flat. Of those operated on, 11% were left with damaged parathyroid glands.
The US Food and Drug Administration says it knows of no evidence that whole-body scanning of people without symptoms does more good than harm. It finds 'something' in many people, and each finding leads to more tests.
A Cochrane review of 17 trials with over 230,000 people found no difference in deaths between people invited to general health checks and those who were not. What matters is the tests that fit your age, not how many.
Free in all three regions: a screening mammogram every 2 years from 50 to 69 and a stool test every 2 years from 50 to 74. Cervical screening from 25 to 64 is free for the sample and analysis; you pay your share of the consultation. HIV testing is free and anonymous at testing centres.
Which tests should you have at 40?
Women: Cervical screening, Blood pressure, Blood sugar test for diabetes, Hepatitis B and C, one-time test, HIV, one-time test. Men: Blood pressure, Cholesterol and 10-year heart and stroke risk, Blood sugar test for diabetes, Hepatitis B and C, one-time test, HIV, one-time test.
Which screening should you have from 50?
Women: Cervical screening, Breast screening (mammogram), Bowel cancer screening (FIT kit), Blood pressure, Cholesterol and 10-year heart and stroke risk, Blood sugar test for diabetes, Hepatitis B and C, one-time test, HIV, one-time test. Men: Bowel cancer screening (FIT kit), Blood pressure, Cholesterol and 10-year heart and stroke risk, Blood sugar test for diabetes, Hepatitis B and C, one-time test, HIV, one-time test. Heavy smokers should ask their GP; a lung CT pilot runs in the Antwerp region.
Which screening should you have from 65?
Women: Breast screening (mammogram), Bowel cancer screening (FIT kit), Blood pressure, Cholesterol and 10-year heart and stroke risk, Blood sugar test for diabetes, Hepatitis B and C, one-time test, HIV, one-time test. Men: Bowel cancer screening (FIT kit), Blood pressure, Cholesterol and 10-year heart and stroke risk, Blood sugar test for diabetes, Hepatitis B and C, one-time test, HIV, one-time test. Heavy smokers should ask their GP; a lung CT pilot runs in the Antwerp region.
Is a private full check-up worth it?
Usually not. A Cochrane review of 17 trials found general health checks made no difference to deaths. Tumour markers and whole-body scans in people without symptoms raise many false alarms. What matters is the screening that fits your age.
The evidence column follows the regional screening programmes of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels and, for the size of each benefit, the randomised trials and the US Preventive Services Task Force evidence reviews. Where Belgium has no programme, the page says so and gives European or US guidance.
Lives saved are absolute: deaths avoided per 1,000 people, not '42% fewer'. Some come from trials (people invited, followed for a fixed number of years), others from models that assume you take every test for life. They are labelled separately and not ranked.
This page does not replace your doctor. With symptoms, a family history of cancer or a long-term condition, your list is different and is made with them.
Why the ages change
Screening ages move when the evidence moves, and lately they have moved down because some diseases now appear earlier: in 2021 the US lowered bowel screening from 50 to 45 as bowel cancer rose in younger adults, and diabetes testing from 40 to 35; Spain and Austria widened their programmes in 2025–2026. Every rule here was checked in September 2026. Screening finds disease early; it does not prevent it. The other half stays the same: not smoking, a healthy weight, moving more and drinking less.
Sources
Every rule and number on the page, with its source. Checked on 27 September 2026.