Personalised medicine: needs, challenges, and considerations Authors Montserrat Vendrell Biocat, Barcelona Council of European Bioregions (CEBR), Brussels Abstract The proportion of the world’s population over the age of 60 will more than double by 2050. By extension, this means an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases, which are among the costliest and constitute a growing pressure on healthcare systems. In this time of budget constraints, aging populations drive the need for change in healthcare. A triple-pronged approach is needed consisting of the design of programs that improve the patient experience as well as the health of the population while lowering the costs. The development of molecular biology has revealed the mechanisms underlying many diseases, in turn leading us towards personalised medicine. As the door to predictive and preventive care opens, the problems of access, delivery and affordability of healthcare will be correspondingly altered: from treating sickness to preserving wellness; from a reactive, disease-oriented healthcare system to a personalised, predictive, and preventive one.Keywords: personalised medicine ∙ aging population ∙ healthcare systems ∙ disruptive innovations ∙ centres for therapeutic innovation (CTI) Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 8 No. 2 (2012) Section Keynote Lectures License This work is subject, unless the contrary is indicated in the text, the photographs or in other illustrations, to an Attribution —Non-Commercial— No Derivative Works 3.0 Creative Commons License, the full text of which can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You are free to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work provided that the author is credited and reuse of the material is restricted to non-commercial purposes only and that no derivative works are created from the original material.
