German Hospital Landscape
In particular, within the European Union, cancer continues to pose a significant public health burden: every minute, approximately five people are diagnosed, while more than two lose their lives to the disease. In 2022, over 2.7 million new cancer cases were estimated across member countries; by 2021, it had become the second leading cause of death, with 1.15 million recorded that year.
My aim is to better understand how much is being spent on genomic sequencing at both the national and regional levels across Europe, starting with Germany as a case study. For this, I have gathered cancer incidence data from 2020, covering major types including lung, colorectal, ovarian, breast, prostate, pancreatic, melanoma, leukemia, uterine, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
To get a sense of where these cases are most likely diagnosed or treated, I compiled a list of hospitals in each region.
Below is a snapshot showing the top five hospitals by cancer-related case volume (diagnoses and ongoing treatments) in three federal states: Berlin, Bavaria, and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).
It is noticeable that in Berlin, which is a city-state, urban and densely populated, the majority of cases are concentrated in a few large hospitals, most prominently Charité (Europe’s largest university hospital). Meanwhile, in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, cancer-related care is spread out over numerous hospitals, reflecting the fact that these regions contain many spread out prominent cities.
Full distribution of hospital data across all of Germany’s federal states
