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This is the real reason women live longer than men.

Doctors won't see me unless I'm dying, or at least tell them I am. And I am, if I understand things correctly, which I might not tbh, in a high risk group for prostate cancer, given that I was diagnosed with chronic prostatitis at 22. I've even asked for checkups but was denied. And where I live you can't really pay for health care (but you can pay to skip the line, which I guess is almost the same thing).

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What country are you in? Not challenging, I'm gathering perspective.

I am in the US with health insurance through my employer and I get blood tests every 6-12 months to check for abnormalities as well as a standard interview for how I'm feeling and whatnot. Also have a few prescriptions that require 3-month checkins.

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Sweden. Our system is pretty good at emergency care, but absolutely abysmal at preventive care, imo.
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The Netherlands seems to be more or less similar, although I’ve had a mixed bag with medical knowledge an experience during emergency care: excellent to middling.

When I lived for a while in the UK, my GP strongly suggested close monitoring for a couple of things, and we saw improvements in some measures with lifestyle changes. Others were “we’ll keep an eye on it, if it gets bad, off you go for an inpatient visit to get you an extra 10 good years”.

Back in the Netherlands I have to get pushy and even a bit obnoxious at my GP before they even consider the concern, let alone schedule a blood test.

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The HPV vaccination eliminates most forms of cervical cancer. Australia reports a 95% drop in cervical cancer in the cohorts that got mandatory widespread HPV vaccinations. I didn't look into how that changed pap smears.
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