The government has decided on a national coordination structure for precision health, with the goal that all patients will have equal access to the personalised care of the future. The assignment has been given to the National Board of Health and Welfare, which, together with the regions, Genomic Medicine Sweden, SciLifeLab and other stakeholders, will contribute to ensuring that new diagnostic methods and treatments are introduced in an equitable way across the country.
The new coordination means that the state is taking clearer responsibility for ensuring that precision health, where advanced diagnostics and data analysis are used to tailor treatments, is implemented uniformly throughout Sweden. This is a crucial step to avoid regional differences and to strengthen the quality and efficiency of healthcare.
Genomic Medicine Sweden has, since its inception, worked to integrate precision diagnostics and medicine into Swedish healthcare. The national coordination is fully in line with Genomic Medicine Sweden’s vision that all patients should have access to precision diagnostics and treatment, that collaboration between university hospitals, regions and academia should be strengthened, and that Sweden should be a leader in research and innovation related to precision health.
Genomic Medicine Sweden will be part of the steering group that the National Board of Health and Welfare will appoint for the coordination structure. The Board’s assignment also includes developing models for how funds should be allocated to the regions for a five-year implementation programme for precision diagnostics and for long-term support to Genomic Medicine Sweden through a government regulation.
The National Board of Health and Welfare will also allocate additional funds to Genomic Medicine Sweden for coordinating a national implementation project in pharmacogenetics.
“This decision is an important recognition of the work already being done within Genomic Medicine Sweden. Through national coordination, we can, together with regions, academia and patient organisations, create the conditions for precision health to become accessible to all patients, regardless of where in the country they live,” says Richard Rosenquist Brandell, Director of Genomic Medicine Sweden.
With a national collaboration structure and an implementation programme for precision diagnostics, new diagnostic methods can be introduced more quickly into clinical practice and patients can receive more targeted treatments and better prognoses. The government’s announcement signals a clear direction for the future of healthcare, and Genomic Medicine Sweden will continue to contribute expertise, infrastructure and research to ensure that the initiative delivers real benefits for patients and healthcare professionals.
Genomic Medicine Sweden looks forward to working closely with the government, regions and other stakeholders to realise the vision of equitable and modern precision health throughout the country.
Read the press release from the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (in Swedish).
Image: SciLifeLab Clinical Genomics Solna. Photo: Samuel Avraham.