National cancer registry of the GDR

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The GDR National Cancer Register was a database on cancer in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was created on the basis of a statutory reporting requirement that had been in force in East Berlin since 1953 and contained data on cancer and related suspected cases of around 1.8 million people, which corresponded to a nationwide coverage rate of around 95 percent. Since the end of the GDR, it has been continued in the form of a joint cancer registry for the states of Berlin , Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia .

Tasks and organization

Between 1961 and 1989, the GDR's National Cancer Register, established in 1952/1953, recorded data on diagnosis , therapy and disease progression from a total of around 1.8 million patients. The detection rate during this period corresponded to around 95 percent of cancer cases in the GDR. This makes the register one of the largest epidemiological data collections in the field of oncology in an international comparison . In addition to malignant tumor diseases and their early stages, suspected cases and certain benign diseases such as benign neoplasms of the brain , spinal cord , pituitary gland and cranial nerves were recorded.

The data was initially saved in lists and later on punched cards . EDP technology was used for data processing from the mid-1970s and PC technology from the mid-1980s . The responsible institution was the Berlin-Buch- based Central Institute for Cancer Research of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR or its predecessor institutions. Analogous to the National Cancer Register, the Central Diabetes Register of the GDR existed for diabetes mellitus from 1960 . Comparable institutions could not be set up in the Federal Republic of Germany due to the lack of a statutory reporting requirement .

history

As early as 1947, a state committee for the fight against cancer was formed at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in Thuringia . The “Law on Combating Cancer Diseases” passed by the Thuringian state parliament also provided for the establishment of a “central registration office for cancer patients” and, in Section 2, required every doctor to report cancer diseases. Similar reporting obligations were subsequently also introduced in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

The nationwide reporting obligation in the entire GDR resulted from the passing of the "Ordinance on the reporting of tumor diseases in the GDR" on July 24, 1952. The beginning of the registration of all diagnosed illnesses and suspected cases was in accordance with § 5 of the second implementing provision for this ordinance of 1 November 1952. Since these provisions did not apply in East Berlin because of the Four Power Agreement on Berlin , a separate ordinance was issued there on December 11, 1952. The associated extension of the legal obligation to report cancer to the entire GDR came into force on April 1, 1953. Thus the prerequisites for the comprehensive epidemiological cancer registration in the GDR were given.

The legal basis was revised and expanded in May 1956. These regulations, based on the recommendations of the sub-committee for the registration and statistical processing of cancer cases of the World Health Organization (WHO), formed the legal basis of the National Cancer Register of the GDR until the reunification of Germany. Only in April 1987 was the notification requirement slightly modified.

Successor institutions

After the political change in the GDR and German reunification , the Common Cancer Register of the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and the Free States of Saxony and Thuringia (GKR) emerged from the National Cancer Register of the GDR . The GKR is the only one supported by several federal states and, in terms of its reference population, the most extensive cancer registry in Germany , and has a reporting rate of more than 90 percent for the states of Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony . It is run as a subordinate institution to the Senate Department for Health, Environment and Consumer Protection Berlin of the Berlin Senate and is a non-legal institution under public law .

A joint clinical cancer registry of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg based in Cottbus started its work on January 1, 2016.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Law on Combating Cancer Diseases of October 9, 1947. Government Gazette for Thuringia No. 17 of October 29, 1947, p. 74
  2. ^ Ordinance on the reporting of tumor diseases of July 24, 1952 . Journal of Laws No. 103 of August 1, 1952, p. 632
  3. ↑ Second implementing provision for the ordinance on the reporting of tumor diseases of October 28, 1952. Journal of Laws of November 5, 1952, p. 1125
  4. ^ Ordinance on the reporting of tumor diseases of December 11, 1952. Ordinance sheet for Greater Berlin, Part I, No. 60 of December 16, 1952, p. 576
  5. ↑ Ordinance for the Improvement of the Treatment of Tumor Diseases of May 17, 1956. GBl I No. 54 of June 16, 1956
  6. ↑ First implementation provision for the ordinance to improve the treatment of tumor diseases of May 17, 1956. Journal of Laws of I No. 54 of June 16, 1956