Availability and funding of clinical genomic sequencing globally

The emergence of next-generation genomic sequencing (NGS) tests for use in clinical care has generated widespread interest around the globe, but little is known about the availability and funding of these tests worldwide. We examined NGS availability across world regions and countries, with a partic...

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Main Authors: Sarah Wordsworth, Deborah A Marshall, Kathryn A Phillips, Michael P Douglas, James Buchanan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2021-02-01
Series:BMJ Global Health
Online Access:https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/2/e004415.full
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author Sarah Wordsworth
Deborah A Marshall
Kathryn A Phillips
Michael P Douglas
James Buchanan
author_facet Sarah Wordsworth
Deborah A Marshall
Kathryn A Phillips
Michael P Douglas
James Buchanan
author_sort Sarah Wordsworth
collection DOAJ
description The emergence of next-generation genomic sequencing (NGS) tests for use in clinical care has generated widespread interest around the globe, but little is known about the availability and funding of these tests worldwide. We examined NGS availability across world regions and countries, with a particular focus on availability of three key NGS tests—Whole-Exome Sequencing or Whole-Genome Sequencing for diagnosis of suspected genetic diseases such as intellectual disability disorders or rare diseases, non-invasive prenatal testing for common genetic abnormalities in fetuses and tumor sequencing for therapy selection and monitoring of cancer treatment. We found that these NGS tests are available or becoming available in every major region of the world. This includes both high-income countries with robust genomic programmes such as the USA and the UK, and growing availability in countries with upper-middle-income economies. We used exploratory case studies across three diverse health care systems (publicly funded/national (UK), publicly funded/provincial (Canada) and mixed private/public system (USA)) to illustrate the funding challenges and approaches used to address those challenges that might be adopted by other countries. We conclude by assessing what type of data and initiatives will be needed to better track and understand the use of NGS around the world as such testing continues to expand.
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spelling doaj-art-44c030b143164b77aa470f93cf6b99422024-12-05T07:00:09ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082021-02-016210.1136/bmjgh-2020-004415Availability and funding of clinical genomic sequencing globallySarah Wordsworth0Deborah A Marshall1Kathryn A Phillips2Michael P Douglas3James Buchanan4NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, UKDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaUCSF Center for Translational and Policy Research on Personalized Medicine (TRANSPERS); Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USAUCSF Center for Translational and Policy Research on Personalized Medicine (TRANSPERS); Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USAHealth Economics Research Centre, Nuffield Department of Population Health, National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UKThe emergence of next-generation genomic sequencing (NGS) tests for use in clinical care has generated widespread interest around the globe, but little is known about the availability and funding of these tests worldwide. We examined NGS availability across world regions and countries, with a particular focus on availability of three key NGS tests—Whole-Exome Sequencing or Whole-Genome Sequencing for diagnosis of suspected genetic diseases such as intellectual disability disorders or rare diseases, non-invasive prenatal testing for common genetic abnormalities in fetuses and tumor sequencing for therapy selection and monitoring of cancer treatment. We found that these NGS tests are available or becoming available in every major region of the world. This includes both high-income countries with robust genomic programmes such as the USA and the UK, and growing availability in countries with upper-middle-income economies. We used exploratory case studies across three diverse health care systems (publicly funded/national (UK), publicly funded/provincial (Canada) and mixed private/public system (USA)) to illustrate the funding challenges and approaches used to address those challenges that might be adopted by other countries. We conclude by assessing what type of data and initiatives will be needed to better track and understand the use of NGS around the world as such testing continues to expand.https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/2/e004415.full
spellingShingle Sarah Wordsworth
Deborah A Marshall
Kathryn A Phillips
Michael P Douglas
James Buchanan
Availability and funding of clinical genomic sequencing globally
BMJ Global Health
title Availability and funding of clinical genomic sequencing globally
title_full Availability and funding of clinical genomic sequencing globally
title_fullStr Availability and funding of clinical genomic sequencing globally
title_full_unstemmed Availability and funding of clinical genomic sequencing globally
title_short Availability and funding of clinical genomic sequencing globally
title_sort availability and funding of clinical genomic sequencing globally
url https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/2/e004415.full
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AT kathrynaphillips availabilityandfundingofclinicalgenomicsequencingglobally
AT michaelpdouglas availabilityandfundingofclinicalgenomicsequencingglobally
AT jamesbuchanan availabilityandfundingofclinicalgenomicsequencingglobally