From cancer registration initiatives to the first network
Cancer registration began in Belgium in the 1950s as an initiative of several health insurance funds that collected data from the treating physicians for this purpose. Together with all health insurance funds, the Nationaal Kankerregister (NKR) (National Cancer Registry) was created in 1983 by the Belgisch Werk tegen Kanker (Belgian Work against Cancer), which was also responsible for its management. However, an evaluation of this voluntary data registration revealed significant under-reporting. As a result, several further cancer registration initiatives were launched in Flanders in the late 1980s, alongside the NKR, but even these systems did not provide an accurate picture of cancer rates on their own.
In response, the Flemish government subsidised the development of a cancer registration network in Flanders from 1994 up to and including 2005. This network was coordinated by the Vlaamse Liga tegen Kanker (Flemish League against Cancer), known since 2014 as Kom op tegen Kanker (Stand up to Cancer). The Flemish cancer registration network’s pooling of forces and resources led to international recognition: in 2001, the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR) published registration data from Flanders for the first time in their authoritative International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR) publication Cancer Incidence in Five Continents.
Mandatory participation in cancer registration
In 2003, multidisciplinary oncology consultation (MOC) reimbursement and oncology care programmes were introduced nationally. At the same time, it was made mandatory to participate in cancer registration, and a standard hospital registration form was introduced.
To ensure the continuity of cancer registration in Belgium, the Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR) was established on 28 June 2005, in a partnership between the federal and regional governments. BCR is a new, independent structure that combines the various initiatives of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels and mainly builds on the former Vlaamse Kankerregistratienetwerk (Flemish Cancer Registration Network) and the NKR. The creation of BCR marked an important step in cancer registration in Belgium.
The official inauguration took place on 17 May 2006 in the presence of Rudy Demotte, then Federal Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health, Catherine Fonck, then Minister for Children, Youth Assistance and Health in the French Community, and Karine Moykens, currently Secretary-General of the Departement Welzijn, Volksgezondheid en Gezin (WVG) (Department of Welfare, Public Health and Family), and at that time the representative of the then Flemish Minister for WVG, Inge Vervotte.
The aim of BCR is the ongoing development of a comprehensive, high-quality cancer registration for the whole of Belgium that can provide significant added value both nationally and internationally.
