Genomics Delivery Plan for Wales: Mapping Our Future
The launch of Genome UK: the future of healthcare (HM Government, 2020) by the UK Government in September 2020 has placed a sharp focus on genomics and the involvement and contribution of all UK nations in its implementation.
Over the past year Wales’ Genomics for Precision Medicine Strategy has undergone a review in collaboration with stakeholders as the programme nears the end of its initial 5-year funding cycle. The next phase is the development of the Genomics Delivery Plan for Wales, aligning our programme with the ambitions outlined in Genome UK. From patients and the public through to NHS, academia and industrial consultation, we are co-producing a delivery plan which will continue Wales’ position in the UK and internationally as a leader in genomics.
Wales boasts strengths in several clinical-academic disciplines; developing world-leading research in the genetics of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntingdon’s diseases, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, combined with strengths in pathogen genomics, functional genomics, pharmacogenomics and cancer. In addition to this clinically Wales is competing both nationally and internationally with the launch of DPYD screening to aid with the safe prescribing of fluoropyrimidines, the Wales Infants and Children’s Genomes Service (WINGS) and genomic profiling of Coronavirus samples to inform health surveillance throughout Wales and world-wide. Eluned Morgan, Health Minister for Wales, recently said:
The UK is at the forefront of the genomics revolution and it is absolutely right that we should be working with other governments across the UK to deliver on our joint vision. We are already working on our own genomics delivery plan through Genomics Partnership Wales… to share our expertise and research in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for patients across Wales and the rest of the UK [source]
The Genomics Delivery Plan for Wales is currently in development, and will be published in summer 2022.
