THE EAST GERMAN MINISTRY OF HEALTH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A000800140007-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: April 15, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP80-0081OA000800140007-1
.CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY East Germany
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 193 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
CONTROL ? U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
SECURITY INFORMATION
SUBJECT The East German Ministry of Health
REPORT
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE . REVERSE)
I .r Prof, Dr med, Hans nnoell 1
a. Professor Knoell wishes to :have the Institute for Microbiology and
Experimental Therapy,, Jenm euthenber transferred from - he ainiot
of Health to the State Secretariat for Chemicals and Building Materials*
bo.Professor Knoell expects-that it will be possible to commence the first
research work in the new Institute for Microbiology and Experimental
Therapy shortly after the end of January 1953. He himself will be
engaged in research on the followings
(1) The investigation of ne'v preparations against cancer.
(2) The investigation of new preparations for the treatment of tuberculosis.
(3 .The investigation of the presently known antibiotics, in relation to
their effect on the organism and symptoms of resistance*
oe The professor's experiments on the production of aureomycin have failed.
He reported to the Ministry that the strains available to him were no good.
d. Kiaell told the Ministry of Health in December 1952 that VEB Jenapharm,
:Jena, was producing about 8"kilograms a month of Hohloronitrin$ (Jenapharm'a
form of ohloramphenicol)e The Ministry, however# thought that he was
exaggerating and that the present capacity of Jenapharm for the production
of useable I!ohloronitriO is closer to 4 kilograms per month. The present
production is of an optically active forma not the racematse
a. The structure of-the East German blood donor organization appears to, be
unsatisfactory. In March 19580 Dr: mad, Guenther Sohuberth returned to
Erfurt from a visit to Professor Dr. med .Peter Daehr of Goettingen, a
specialist in blood group research matters and serology. The Land
'X [NAVY
Ix "
25X1
1.5 April 1953
3
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Thueringen Ministry of Health then reported to the East German Ministry
of Health stating that Sohuberth was of the opinion that the present
blood donor organization needed complete reorganization. Sohuberth
also pointed out that the so-called blood donor centers in the various
hospitals of East Germany were working on old principals and that no real
-blood group research or Rh-factor determination could be expected from
them. Dr. Sohuberth suggested, a blood center in 25X1
each Lands which would send mobile teams around the Land, collecting
bloods The blood would be returned the same day to the center which
would work it up to preserved full'blood and preserved plasma, for
issue as necessary. After three weeks, this would be withdrawn and made
into dried plasma. Sohuberth was quoted as saying, ..... the future
belongs to dried plasma".
be The Ministry considered these matters and in June 1952, called a meeting
of all Land officials responsible for the East German Blood-Donor
Organization in their areas, The meeting was held in Berlin and was
addressed by Professor Dr. med,Friedrich-Wilhelm Breckenfeld, who was
then responsible for all blood matters in 'East Germany (Ministry
of Health -HA IV - Hygiene - Inspektion). Professor Breckenfelddefined
a blood donor center in simple terms and ordered the officials to report by
1 October 1952 on suitable blood donor centers in their areas. The professor
also made the points thats
(1) Tests of blood group should be made for the 4 groups and for
-l, A-2 and the Th-factor
(2) Anti mi-Serum oauld be supplied by the Saeohsisohes Serumwerk
- AG, Dresden*
(3) ?The training gt.statff for blood donor centers would be conduoted
in eight day courses for groups of 10 people at each of the
following centerse
Zentraistelle fuer Hygiene (ZfE) Rostock - Prof, Fritz Sander
Landesinstitut fuer Hygiene, Potsdam - Prof, Friedrich Sartorius
Surgical Clinic, Erfurt - Dr, Guenther Sohuberth
ZfH Leipzig - Prof, Georg Wildfuehr
University Surgical Clinioo Halle - Prof Gerhard Rothe
(4) the -training- of the heads of the blood donor. centers would be carried
out by the Landesinstitut fuer Hygienic, Potsdam*
of On 30 October 1952, ?theMinistry of Health gave Dr. Guenther Sohuberth the "
assignment of developing a new blood.preservatio t unit. He was to be
responsible fore
(1) Blood preservation bottles
(2) Transfusion tubes
(3) Filter
(4) Injection needles
(5) Transporting vessels
(.6) The transporting vehicle.
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doThe Ministry of Health called another meeting of all blood donor
organization officials for the middle of January 1953, in St. Jacob's
Hospital. , Leipzig Cl, Liebigstr, 20, The chairman of the meeting was
Drymed.Easee2 of Leipzig. The agenda was: The r,dioal reorganization
of the blood donor organization and the question of developing and
running a"preserved blood'~organization,
3, Disease statistics.for
ao The new oases of some of the main infectious diseases, for the whole
of East Germany (including Last Berlin) for October 1952 were as follows:
Typhoid
Paratyphoid
Scarlet fever
Diphtheria
Encephalitis
249
150
5,029
1,052
Pulmonary tuberculosis 1,998
Bacterial food poisoning 65
Poliomyelitis 86
bo The encephalitis figures above are, as for every month in the statistics,
compounded from two forms'of the disease: encephalitis epidemica and
encephalitis vaccinalis,
o. The general epidemiological situation in East Germany,as viewed by
the Ministry, was, in October and early November 1952, considered very
goods
lol Comments East German newspapers announced in October 1952 the LZ)n
award of as -Na onal Prize (I class) to Are Knoell and Dr, Willi Koehler
for increasing penicillin production and starting streptomycin production.
Drs Koehler is technical director of VEB;Jenapharm,
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