Since 2010, the renowned Forsa Institute has surveyed Germans' fear of diseases every November on behalf of the health insurance fund DAK-Gesundheit. In the latest survey, around 3,500 women and men were polled nationwide. According to the results, 89 percent of respondents rate their current state of health as fairly good (57 percent) or even very good (32 percent). Only a few rate their state of health as fairly poor (8 percent) or very poor (2 percent).
The evaluation of the Forsa survey only becomes really interesting, however, when it comes to the details, i.e. to people's actual fears of disease. The DAK-Gesundheit press release states: "According to this, 68 percent of respondents are most afraid of a malignant tumor. One in two is afraid of Alzheimer's and dementia - an increase of 28 percent compared to the previous year. 45 percent are afraid of suffering a stroke. More than one in three (38 percent) is afraid of a heart attack."
DAK-Gesundheit goes on to say: "The fear of a tumor disease is greatest among young people between 14 and 29, at 73 percent, and falls to 61 percent among those over 60. For Alzheimer's and dementia, the result is the reverse. Here, concern rises markedly from 42 percent among younger respondents to 58 percent among older respondents. Dementia frightens respondents particularly because the disease can affect anyone and because those affected then depend on care from others. These reasons were given by 73 and 76 percent respectively. Almost one in two (45 percent) fears Alzheimer's and dementia most because the number of cases is rising so sharply. More than one in four (27 percent) cited reports in the media as the reason."
In summary, the Forsa survey lists Germans' fear of the individual diseases as follows:
1. Cancer (68 percent)
2. Alzheimer's/dementia (50 percent)
3. Stroke (45 percent)
4. Accident with injuries (43 percent)
5. Heart attack (38 percent)
6. Serious eye diseases, e.g. blindness (30 percent)
7. Mental illnesses, e.g. depression (27 percent)
8. Serious lung disease (18 percent)
9. Diabetes (15 percent)
10. Sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS (10 percent)
The survey also looked into preventive measures. DAK-Gesundheit says in its press release: "To prevent diseases, 80 percent of respondents exercise regularly and 71 percent pay attention to a proper diet. Just as many drink only a little alcohol in order to stay healthy. 65 percent read and seek mental challenges. 71 percent do not smoke. (…)"
So much for the status quo, which shows one thing above all: the fear and worry of being affected by serious diseases, especially in old age, are widespread among the population. Looking at the list of diseases that many people are afraid of, it is striking that, with a few exceptions (accidents, mental illnesses, sexually transmitted diseases), they are in fact the typical age-related diseases that affect almost everyone in our country today from a certain age onward. Individual health precautions such as exercise, a healthy diet and a conscious way of life can certainly delay the onset of age-related diseases or alleviate their symptoms - but they do not offer general protection. Of course, this form of prevention is important - just like, for example, taking part in self-help groups. However, none of this replaces the achievements of health research. Only the further and better development of effective medicine against age-related diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, stroke, heart attack, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and macular degeneration will provide lasting relief. Age-related diseases are caused by certain changes inside and outside the cells. Only by repairing these changes at the molecular and cellular level will it probably become possible in the future to cure and prevent age-related diseases. And the more research is done in this field, the greater the chance of developing effective medicine against these diseases in the near future. This would lift a great burden from people and change society for good.
For this reason, since its founding in 2015, the Party for Health Research (Partei für Gesundheitsforschung) has been campaigning for more research institutions working on this topic to be established in Germany and for more scientists to be trained in the relevant fields. The party focuses on promoting government-run research, since research by the pharmaceutical industry is all too subject to the rules of private profit maximization. According to the Party for Health Research, today's biotechnological progress offers, for the first time, realistic chances of developing effective drugs and causal therapies against a broad spectrum of age-related diseases. To accelerate the development of this medicine, the party proposes that 1 percent of the federal or state budgets be additionally invested in health research. Half of these additional investments are to go into the construction and operation of new research institutions. The other half is to be used to train more scientists in the relevant fields such as biochemistry and molecular biology, for which the corresponding departments at the universities are also to be expanded.
The Party for Health Research is well aware that the investments needed for better health research are very high. In fact, however, they are considerably lower than the immense and still rising costs that age-related diseases already cause today. The development of effective medicine would therefore not only be a humanitarian act that would spare many people great suffering - it would also be quite advantageous from an economic point of view, since the funds freed up in this way could be put to good use elsewhere.
However coherent and comprehensible the arguments of the Party for Health Research may be, it has not yet really been able to succeed in elections. So far, the party has taken part in five elections: in 2016 in the election to the Berlin House of Representatives, in 2017 in the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia, also in 2017 in three federal states in the federal election, and in 2018 in the state elections in Bavaria and Hesse. Its best result so far was 0.5 percent in Berlin in 2016. The main reason why the election results are not significantly higher is that many citizens simply do not know the Party for Health Research yet. In addition, many people perceive the complex of age-related diseases and health research as a fringe issue for which they see no scope for political action. And last but not least, individual denial of course also plays a role. But the results of the Forsa survey now published by the health insurance fund DAK-Gesundheit say something quite different. When people in a representative survey express concern in such high percentages about being affected by typical age-related diseases themselves, then this is far from being a fringe issue. On the contrary: it shows with absolute clarity that the Party for Health Research, with its demand for more and better health research, is right in the middle of society. Of course, there are also other important policy areas alongside it. In that respect, health may not be everything. But without health, everything is nothing. And it is precisely this insight that the Forsa survey commissioned by DAK-Gesundheit confirms. The fears and worries of many people about their health are real and numerous. The Party for Health Research offers approaches to solutions and prospects for political action. After all, whether and how much money is invested in health research is ultimately decided in the parliaments. And it does make a difference whether these parliaments include a political force that has made this important topic its cause, or whether those who, despite its relevance to society as a whole, continue to push aside the issue of health research and age-related diseases set the tone.
Author: Georg Diederichs, Party for Health Research
Sources: DAK-Gesundheit press release "Angst vor Krankheiten" (fear of diseases) and Forsa survey (2018; no longer available online from DAK-Gesundheit)
