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6th July 2017

Welsh Government £6.8m ‘precision’ medicine action pledge

The Welsh NHS risks being left behind unless stronger services and more expertise are developed in genetic medicine, according to a new strategy launched by the Welsh Government.

A better understanding of human DNA and how it affects health is starting to revolutionise treatment and care.

The £6.8m plan is meant to make sure Wales can compete internationally in a field of medicine changing fast.

It also wants patients to have quicker access to genetic tests.

Humans have about 20,000 genes – bits of DNA code or instructions that control how our bodies work – but tiny errors in the code can lead to a range of different illnesses.

Dr Rachel Butler, head of the Cardiff-based All Wales Genetics Laboratory, said “precision” medicine provided targeted treatment.

She explained that for certain types of cancer, for example, treatments were being developed based on particular genetic errors that can cause the disease.

Genomics for Precision Medicine Strategy proposals include:
Make sure patients in Wales have easier and quicker access to genetic tests.

  • Develop more precise and personalised treatments for a range of diseases, on the basis of clinical need.
  • Develop a single genetics service for Wales, including building a new genetics laboratory.
  • Recruit more genetic experts and data analysts, provide more training for existing NHS staff, improve IT and data-sharing systems to deal with vast amounts of information.
  • Enhance Wales’ capability for research and work more closely with drugs companies and other industries in developing new treatments.
  • Raise public awareness about developments and innovation in genetics.
  • Engage in conversations about issues such as data protection, consent and confidentiality.

As things stand, the strategy warns that “the current and future potential” of genetics are “poorly understood beyond the specialist field”.

It said this “limits the ability of the NHS to fully exploit the possibilities and creates risks for the international competitiveness of Welsh Health Services in future”.

The strategy calls for “stronger arrangements” to be put in place to prevent Wales from falling behind.

It also said that, up until now, much of the infrastructure for genomics research in Wales has developed “opportunistically” based on efforts of individual institutions and smaller units.

According to the strategy, a “higher level approach” is now needed which, if implemented, will ensure a “bright future for the application of cutting edge genomic technologies in Wales”.

Dr Rick Greville from ABPI Wales, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said the “vast majority” of medicines being developed were using genomics as a component.

“Through genomics we will be able to identify the best medicine for the most appropriate patient,” he said.

Dr Greville said the strategy was important because it brought together everyone needed to play their part.

“It’s really, really important for the NHS in Wales to be at the forefront of that science… and data collection and analysis.”

Thursday’s strategy launch by Health Secretary Vaughan Gething comes two days after England’s chief medical officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies, said cancer patients should be routinely offered DNA tests to help select the best treatments for them.