HUNGARY - STATUS OF MEDICAL RESEARCH

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• Collection: General CIA Records
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• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2013
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: August 14, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

~19:~ v
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CLASSIFICATION SECRET/SECURITY INFO.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT NO.
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY Hungary
SUBJECT Status of Medical Research
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED BY
50X1T
DATE DISTR.
S3
NO OF PAGES 6
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
P14TE 0 F?
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION APEECTINO THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OE THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 16, SECTION, 711
AND 794, OF THE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANNMIS11 ON DR REVS.
LOTION 0 ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT SV AN UMAUTHORIDEE PC RSON IS
PEOHIIITEO SV LOW. THE REPSODUCTION CF THIN POEM IS PEOHISITES.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. Prior to the Communist takeover in Hungary, medical research was sub-
sidized by a number of different private agencies. Although some of 50X1
the funds supplied by these agencies originated with the Hungarian
government, nevertheless, their actual administration was handled by
the private agencies which distributed them. Perhaps the best known
of thes.= agencies was the Prince Eszterhazy Foundation. There were
also banks and various individuals who contributed funds for research
through various private agencies as is at present the case in the US.
There was also a Hungarian organization similar to the US National
Research Council and another council which controlled the granting of
foreign research fellowships. All of these research organizations
became centralized in 1948 or 1949 and at present [1953] the only
-agency having charge of research is the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
which is of course completely politically dominated and is essentially
a government agency. Its president is Istvan Rusznyak
who is also a member of the Hungarian Supreme Soviet. Vice pres en s
are Tibor Erdey-Gruz who is Minister of Education and Pal Gombas who is
Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Polytechnical Institute in
Budapest. The control of this one agency over research is absolute and
includes the appointment of people to various positions, the financial
support of research programs and even decisions as to the nature of the
research projects to be undertaken. Hardly any researchers are given
authority as far as individual initiative is concerned except some of
the older well-established men who continue running their own affairs
to a limited extent.
2. The Hungarian Academy of Sciences has a very mixed membership. Some of
the older members who joined either because of pressure or for opportunistic
reasons are very good professionally since they received their training
under the old system. Ninety per cent of the members, however, have been
relatively newly elected and of this group only about 50X1
one half are good scientists. The rest are purely po i ical.
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3. The present [1953) tendency of Hungarian research, as might be expected,
is to imitate Soviet scientific theory to as great an extent as possible
including complete acceptance of its dogmas, e.g. Michurin and Lyssenko in
biology and Pavlov's "neurism" in physiology and medicine. Hungarian
scientists of prominence and integrity have been forced publicly to support
these theories. In the clinical research fields, professors and lecturers
have been brought from the USSR for indoctrination purposes. Surprisingly
enough, however, these Soviet professors and lecturers
were retained in their positions in Hungary but returned to to USSR after
they had served their purpose.
11. In spite of this domination of Hungary by the Soviets in the field of
scientific theory, Soviet science has made much of an imprint on
Hungarian medical science. Traditionally, most Hungarian 50X1
research work on clinical subjects and some on the . eore cal subjects
has been influenced by German science. There are, of course, exceptions
to this.. Research in physiology and biochemistry, for example, followed
British patterns rather closely and in the fields of neurology and neuro-
surgery, US influence was most pronounced.
5. In post World War II Hungarian medical research, the emphasis is on
practical results and tremendous efforts have been made to forge ahead in
fields in which Hungarian medicine has lagged behind.
a.
b.
c.. Work under Mi;'aly Gerendas on blood coagulating agents..
d. Development of various drugs used in the treatment of'
The problems and production of antibiotics.
Blood substitutes and a coordinated regional blood bank
program. how successful the latter has-
been since attempts have been underway for two years to
organize this -nrogram.
e ? ...Work- by Bruno Straub and, associates on museu .a r. physiology.
TB which is, of course, Hungary's No l killer. Some
streptomycin is being used in this treatment but 0 ?50X1
it is imported. Drugs which have beep developed
`ate: are being produced in 'Hungary for- this treatment.
include rimifon (sp) which- is similar.to.the US`b:ydrazid
.and PAS (para-amino-salycilic acid) plus others.
6. Prior to the Communist takeover Hungarian hospitals as a rule were'?under
the'over all supervision of the Ministry of-Internal Affairs and the
university clinics and medical schools were under the Ministry of Education.
In 19+6 the Ministry of Public Welfare took over the department of hospitals.:'
from'the Inner Affairs Ministry but the medical schools still continued
under the Ministry of Education. There has been another change within the
last six months or so and I believe that both hospitals and medical schools
are now [1953 under one single ministry.
7. The leading institutions where medical research is carried on in Hungary
today [1953 are the followings
a. Medical faculty of the University of Budapest (Orvosi
Fakoltas, EBtvSs Lorand Tudomanyegyetem)?. Research
here is centered in the theoretical and clinical research
departments. In general these are fairly well equipped
except that following World War II the Soviets removed
a great deal of scientific equipment and
all of this has not been replaced. The university
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. xeceiyed very :little damage during World War II..
is the case with many. US - medical schools.,, research.
'is.located, at various hospital clinics throughout
the city,. Conditions described here for,-the University
of Budapest are also in general true for the other
,three Hungarian medical schools,. i.e.,Pecs, Szeged and
Debrecen.
research organizations within the university since as
National Institute of Public Health (Orezagos
zegeszsegagyi Inte.zet.), Gyali.ut 1, Budapest;
This splendidly equipped institution was; set up by
,the Rockefeller Foundation in the 1930's and combines,
..research facilities for public health,-.,bacteriology
and virus research with a very good school for public.
health nurses.., It was slightly damaged during World.
war11:,
co
Rentral Research Institute (Kg ont? Kutato Intezet),
i ut, 90-96. (.2 ), Budapest
uiiZS
:.was
50X1
,
established in Budapest. in 1 or a so e purpose of'.
centralizing university and other' research..
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it is well. equipped
d.
"Phylaxia", Budapest. This drug firm has large research
facilities and is the chief source:bf';Hungarian research
in immunology and, antibiotics.'
3t: has
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recently. been enlarged,.
8. In general Hungarian: :research" facilities are adequately equipped for their
present research programs except in those.fitlds'.in yrhieh Hungarian science
has lagged behind.:. "Particularly bad in this reapact is research pp. bioptysics
since neither radio-isotopes or any'equipment is available. As far as other
fields are concerned:. very complicated ihstrument.s and. very simple' instru-
mints:,, are ailahle. in sufficient quantity to. meet present'. needs. ,The
r.,eabsn.-:for-this .:is.that the' very simple instruments are being produced:iu.
H?ary, and: rgoxer has been made available :.for ? purchase abroad,. especiall`.
if,'$v'edeta end .Switaer3.and:;, of . the very complicated: instruments such. as
electron-wicro`scopes. ' There has., however, been a definite: shortage of
standard but more:.complicated equipment, if .this.. dibtinetion can, be, drawn...
Such equipmentwas formerly imported'from..Germany where, of course, the
Wax: 11. and is very. well, equipped. .
e. State Biological. Research Institute (Allami Biologiai Kutato
Intezet) Tiha'ny o,, (Lake Balaton). At :this .place basic...
scientific problems..are-' investigated. Work., of this kind
is'. being done in the.. fields. of physiology logy', genatics,,,., and
soil: baeteria.?. The'. institute. was not. damaged In, World
quality was best and the price lowest. At least until recently, no German
iports, in quantity have been possible`, Those. 'feu'. lhmgarian~ production
faoil,ities .egnipped'to.manufacture this equipment such as the Gamma Factory
were socialized and as a result the quality and quantity of their production
were vastly reduced. . This shortage includes the'. following:,,.
a. Microscopes-and most . optical-:material
b. Cameras, photo :appliances and x-.ray .film:
a. Microtoaies
d. Some analytical glassware
nothing worthwhile in the scientific apparatus
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9. Specific scientific. apparatus available in Hungarian. research laboratories
.
include the following:
a. Electron-microscope.. There are at least two of these
at thp versity of Budapest which were imported,,
from Sweden and one at the Central.
Research Institute.
b, Tiselius electrophoretic apparatus, There is at-least
one at the Central Research Institute. and another at
Bruno Straub's laboratory. There are probably others.
c. Ultracentrifuge. whether this instrument
is,available.. There-were none as of 1947,
d. Warburg~Manometer. These are standard equipment in all
'institutes of physics and chemistry. There are,.
seven or eight available at, the medical
se oo 'a the University of Budapest alone
e. Freeze drying. equipment.. this is available
at.:the Central Research Ins . u e..
f. Phase microscope.
at the Institute of Pathology and Anatomy: at the University
.of Budapest and,perhaps elsewhere.
Of the above instruments only Warburg manometers are produced in Hungary.
The rest have been importedj.mtil.1945_from Germany and more recently from
Sweden and. Switzerland.
10. Hungarian medical research laboratories areprobably fairly well stocked
with chemicals except:insome fields.,-.There is,. for example, probably now
[19537 a shortage.of . certain aniline. dyes which were formerly imported
from Germany. Although most laboratories bad large stockpiles of these
50X1 dyes,. la-shortage is:now developing.. 'Routine glassware is pro
bably in adequate supply but t czate.kind is.probably not,
50X1 generally available. There is .definnite shortage of.. x-ray
50X1 film throughout the country. 'how-much of the relatively
small supply of film..is.:alloca e o me ca research., Standard medical
instruments are probably available in adequate amounts but, as is the
case with laboratory instruments, there is probably a definite shortage
n- . oix the.-mbre intricate medical'instruments ? especially. those involving
:c ptie'a1- systems ',such: as cystoscopes'.
11. Since the entire'. Hungarian Hospital and. out-patient'sys?em has bin...:
:.s& ialized,?from the practical point of view every hospital patieht.or
=t=patient is.available for research whether he.or..she wishes to-be or
nom: addition;:.as.was the case even'before the Communists took over.,
.every hospital patient who dies is available for-:obligatory autopsy..
12. !, hert'are'more people in Hungarian. research-today than. ever before because
the'present Communis.t.reg-ime in Hungary favors research. with all possible
Means 6, In addition, research workers, enj.ay a very prominent -position; in
Hungarian society and are .similar .in, status and salary to "people!.s..artists"
and "tpeoplets writers". To.be.assignedzto'research.work.is an.enviable
positibn. In'addition.to high salaries, additional: funds: in the form of
prizes are also available to such individuals, There has been) however,
a,. distinct decline in. the quality of-Hungarian research partly due to a
much deteriorated level of education and partly because the selection of
people for both ;medical schools :and. research :positions has been based
entirely on politics,. On'the basis of,a._number-of Hungarian medical papers
World War III' This does not speak too well for the. future of Hungarian
medical. research 'since all good research people start being productive
at a much younger age than 35-
5.
value
--T-
va ue to Hungarian medical.. journals are less than 35 years old and that the
best production is from people who had already started in research before
.mpression is that none of the contributors of any
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13 There.-has always,-been a shortage.in.Hungary of train ed.laboratory technicians.
50X1 and no reason why this situation should have improved under the
Communists.
50X1 14. Hungarian medical scientists have access to medical journals
rrom a ua, US, Germany, Scandinavia, France and the UK, in numbers pro-
bably in that order. The university libraries are, of course, particularly
well stocked. The largest medical library is the one attached to the medical
faculty of the University of Budapest and is located at Ull8i.ut 24-26. It
used to contain the best,journal in each medical field from each of the
countries listed above. Although foreign Journals are not generally
available in summary in the,.Hungarian language, practically all researchers,
at least priorto.1911.7, were able to read them in the original, languages
except for Russian which only very few were. able to read in.spite of the
propaganda to the effect that they. can. In general, US and Scandinavian
journals were the most popular...
15. There are a number of medical journals published in Hungary.
specifically the following all.,of.which within..the-last two
years:
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a. Orvosok Lapja (Physician's Journal) This is the official
organ of the Hungarian Physicians' Trade Union and is published
either weekly.or b.i-weekly in the Hungarian.language only.
It was started in 1945 and is pure Communist party line.
Roswedorvps (Military Physician) Thisis the* official, organ
:of ;, the. Hungarian Army Medical Corp and. is a continuation, of
a similar publication which was;;started..a long time before
the Communist takeover,, It,' is fair in quality and is. published
either monthly or bi-monthly;inthe Hungarian language only.,.
;c. Sebe szet,(Surgery) This journal, which: appears either monthly
or b-momonthly, is published by ,the F ungarian:Academy. 50X1
It appears0 to be pretty-good.. Although the articles
themselves, are printed, In,Hungarian, abstracts in French,
German;; -English and Russian .are also furnished.,
..tcta ~'hysiologica,Rungar ais published monthly or bi-monthly
in the international languages French German, English and
_A;:t! Pediatrica Danubiatara, also.appearing monthly or bi--monthly,
contai4p..4rticles- in the international. languages It seems
also to be pretty good.
Acta Me_?iica -Hungarica,, also appearing monthly or big-monthly
and- cont$.ining articles in the,international.- languages, is,
and does. not even.furnish Hungarian' abstracts..
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E
it is a good journal.
published by the Hungarian. Academy and is good..
g. OrvosiHetilap (Medical Weekly) is-a continuation of a
publication, which has been-. published in. Hungary for almost
a hundred years. It is either a-_weekly qr.a bi.-weekly and
is the Hungarian equivalent.of the, US American Medical Association
Journal...
SF,.emeszet .(Ophthalmology).is published monthly or bi-monthly
in,Hungarianwith summaries in the,international languages.
It is -. only fair.,,
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16 Prior to the Communist takeover, good medical textbooks in Hungary were
available oii'all theoretical and clinical subjects. The modern ones were
all written in the late 1930'8 or early 1940's and are, therefore, reason-
ably up to date on clinical matters. A fair indication of their quality
is the fact that many'of them were translated into German,'French and
50X1 English. these books are still now (1953.p
953J .-in general
use aliltough copies are undoubtedly getting scarce and very expensive
because no more editions of them have been printed since World War II.
The editing of medical'textbooks is now a function of the Hungarian.-
Academy of Sciences whereas formerly this work was done either by private
publishing companies or by the so-called Medical Publishing. Company which
50X1 was-university controlled, new textbooks are being
prepared by the Academy and that these are being written by the same
individuals who wrote the earlier textbooks. It is, therefore., probable
that these are good but probably they contain a large amount of political
material not present in the earlier books.
17. Although correspondence between Hungarian scientists and foreign scientists
has been definitely restricted, it has not been completely abolished.
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i s
possible for-Hungarian scientists to write articles for French, Austrian
and Scandinavian scientific journals.
18. no rofound recent changes in the curriculum of Hungarian-medical
50X1 schools it is essentially the same as before 1945 except for
the addition cf political subjects . Hungaryj of course, follows the
gymnasium system rather than the-U8 college system. Students planning to
go into medicine spend two additional years in a gymnasium followed by
six years ina university includd~ 't:ve years 'of courses- and a year of
rotating internship. The first'twv years'of this latter period include.
only courses in the basi.e sciences, while the next three cover clinical
subjects plus. pahh,ology, bacteriology, public health and forensic medicine.
Prior to 1945 about 40 per cent of the Hungarian medical school graduates
went on to specialize. This procedure was. similar to that in the US,.i.ee
residence at an approved hospital for three'io four years before qualifying
50X1 as a specialist. this situation is probably about the same
under the Communists.
19. Prior to the Communist takeover, foreign training was almost a must for a
Hungarian physician who considered himself well trained. Since 1947, however,
it has not been-possible for Hungarian physicians to receive such foreign
training except, of course, in the USSR and the number of physicians
receiving ?such..treuAing has. been very small,. perhaps no more than two
50X1 dozen or so per'year.? one individual who received such a fellowship.
He was a physiologist an app ed to the Hungarian government in 1946 for
permission to get post-graduate training in this field in-the UK. His
application was appr,ovedexcept instead of the -UK his appointment was set
up for the USSR. Although he certainly did'not want to go, he finally.
decided that it was-better to do so in order to avoid trouble and.he spent
one year to 14 months at the Orbeli Institute in Leningrad.
after his -return. and.. he reported that the conditions of the-Hungarian
students who.made this trip were miserable.- They were-quartered in barracks
which were badly heated and-badly'lighted. They were underfed and were not
paid enough to support themselves and had to take menial positions to
increase their income.
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