Global health challenges and personalised medicine

Abstract

In 2001, the World Bank stated that the biggest problem facing humanity in the 21st century would be poverty. Today, we know that 1200 million people, about a fifth of the world's population, lives on less than a dollar a day and that communicable diseases continue to account for half of the deaths and almost two thirds of the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) among the poorest 20 % of the world's population. From a global health perspective, this is an unacceptable health equity gap. If the existing medicines and preventative measures were made more widely available, they could already save millions of lives. At the same time, research into new drugs, vaccines, etc., and their subsequent clinical development are crucial to obtaining effective ammunition against diseases that keep people in poverty. In the view of such global health challenges, the potential benefits of personalised medicine need to meet research-based evaluations, including clinical utility, low-cost and technical feasibility, within responsive healthcare systems with adequately trained personnel. Partnerships with low and middle-income countries, with the support of the incoming EU Horizon 2020 Research Framework Programme, need to be promoted.

Keywords: personalised medicine ∙ global health ∙ povertyrelated
diseases ∙ health equity