24-06-2019

The Hellenic National Bioethics Commission dealt with the moral issues that are raised by the development of the so-called "precision medicine" and its expected clinical and research applications. Precision medicine takes into account a person's genetic makeup, the environmental factors in which the person is exposed to during his/her lifetime (e.g. occupational hazards, industrial and household pollutants, water quality, climate, altitude, air pollution) and his/her lifestyle (e.g. nutrition, physical activity, substance use), aiming at the prognosis and development of targeted therapies. The launch of precision medicine networks has recently been approved in our country (Greece). This effort has been proven possible thought the participation of the most critical research units in the field of Biomedicine as well as the financial assistance of the State.

According to the Commission, the development of precision medicine applications undoubtedly responds to serve both the social and the individual right to health. However, it is essential to take into consideration several emerging issues when applying precision medicine, especially during the processing of large volumes of sensitive data (genetic, medical, lifestyle data) and the biological sample collection. Regarding the second point, the Commission considers that it is more appropriate to adopt specific legislation. Finally, taking into account the financial costs involved in developing the precision medicine venture, the Commission points out that the investment of health resources should not be applied selectively. The financial cost must be documented based on objective criteria, e.g. investing primarily for diseases affecting a substantial amount of people in the general population, including rare diseases, with the prospect of gradually covering all conditions.

Opinion (in Greek only)

Report (in Greek only)