Bulgaria
Cancer Centers
Healthcare System
Bulgaria has a mandatory social health insurance (SHI) system with a minor role for voluntary health insurance (VHI). Although the law mandates universal health coverage, approximately 12% of the population is uninsured, with the long-term unemployed, the Roma community, and individuals in disadvantaged regions being most affected.
The Bulgarian Ministry of Health is in charge of regulating and coordinating the healthcare system, as well as licensing healthcare providers, including hospitals. The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) and its regional branches are primarily responsible for purchasing health services.
The population of Bulgaria receives a range of benefits through the healthcare system, including access to primary care, specialist care, hospitalization, emergency care, maternity care, dental care, and prescription medications. Preventive services and screenings are also provided. Primary care is provided by general practitioners (GPs), who are independent practitioners contracted by the NHIF. They operate in individual or group practices, and act as gatekeepers for specialist care, diagnostic tests, and hospital care. However, monthly quotas for patient referrals can lead to some patients bypassing primary care doctors and going directly to hospital emergency departments.
To access healthcare benefits, Bulgarian citizens must be registered with the NHIF. Despite the legal requirement for universal health coverage, a significant portion of the population remains uninsured, particularly among the long-term unemployed, the Roma community, and those living in disadvantaged regions.
Claims data, registries, and electronic health records are managed primarily by the National Center for Public Health and Analyses (NCPHA), which operates under the Ministry of Health. This organization is responsible for the collection, storage, and analysis of healthcare data, as well as maintaining the national electronic health record system. Individual healthcare providers also maintain their own electronic health records, which are integrated into the national system.
Administrative or Claims Data
Registries
Database: National Cancer Registry
Sponsor, manager or home institution: Bulgarian National Cancer Registry.
Primary purpose: Systematic collection, storage, organization, analysis, interpretation, publication and protection of data for persons with malignant neoplasms and carcinoma in situ throughout the country.
Type of information: Data dictionary was not found.
Available type of information: Cancer incidence, cancer deaths, number of new cases, distribution of newly diagnosed cases, primary cancer site, age, sex.
Source of Information: Information periodically sent by 13 regional cancer centers.
Data level: Patient level.
Available data level: Regional and national level.
Number of Records: Unknown.
Date Range: 1993 onwards.
Cancer Areas of Interest:
C00 - Lip C01 - Base of Tongue C02 - Other and Unspecified Parts of Tongue C03 - Gum C04 - Floor of Mouth C05 - Palate C06 - Other and Unspecified Parts of Mouth C07 - Parotid Gland C08 - Other and Unspecified Major Salivary Glands C09 - Tonsil C10 - Oropharynx C11 - Nasopharynx C13 - Hypopharynx C14 - Other and Ill-defined Sites in Lip, Oral Cavity and Pharynx C15 - Oesophagus C16 - Stomach C17 - Small Intestine C18 - Colon C19 - Rectosigmoid Junction C20 - Rectum C21 - Anus and Anal Canal C22 - Liver and Intrahepatic Bile Ducts C23 - Gallbladder C24 - Other and Unspecified Parts of Biliary Tract C25 - Pancreas C30 - Nasal Cavity and Middle Ear C31 - Accessory Sinuses C32 - Larynx C33 - Trachea C34 - Bronchus and Lung C37 - Thymus C38 - Heart, Mediastinum, and Pleura C40 - Bones, Joints and Articular Cartilage of Limbs C41 - Bones, Joints and Articular Cartilage of Other and Unspecified Sites C43 - Melanoma of Skin C44 - Other Skin C45 - Mesothelioma C46 - Kaposi Sarcoma C47 - Peripheral Nerves and Autonomic Nervous System C49 - Connective and Other Soft Tissues C50 - Breast C51 - Vulva C52 - Vagina C53 - Cervix Uteri C54 - Corpus Uteri C55 - Uterus, NOS C56 - Ovary C57 - Other and Unspecified Female Genital Organs C58 - Placenta C60 - Penis C61 - Prostate Gland C62 - Testis C63 - Other and Unspecified Male Genital Organs C64 - Kidney, Except Renal Pelvis C65 - Renal Pelvis C66 - Ureter C67 - Bladder C68 - Other and Unspecified Urinary Organs C69 - Eye and Adnexa C70 - Meninges C71 - Brain C72 - Spinal Cord, Cranial Nerves, and Other Parts of CNS C73 - Thyroid Gland C74 - Adrenal Gland C75 - Other Endocrine Glands and Related Structures C81 - Hodgkin Lymphoma C82 - Follicular Lymphoma C83 - Non-follicular Lymphoma C84 - Mature T/NK-Cell Lymphomas C85 - Other and Unspecified Types of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma C88 - Malignant Immunoproliferative Diseases C90 - Multiple Myeloma and Malignant Plasma Cell Neoplasms C91 - Lymphoid Leukemia
Open data access: Data is partially publicly available. Publicly available data can be found here. Information on how to access complete database can be found here.
Information/Contact for data request: Contact information can be found here.
