Implication for epidemiology of disease registers.

The existence of population and disease registers is crucial for epidemiologic research. Continuous registration over many years provides a particular advantage. The example of asbestos and lung cancer is used to illustrate the importance of register-based studies for the assessment of an association between an exposure and a clinical disease. It is an important challenge for epidemiologists in the ongoing debate on data confidentiality constantly to convince the public about the benefits of our work.