New Pathogen Genomics Strategy Launched by the UKHSA
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has launched a new five-year pathogen genomics strategy. How is this setting out how the organisation will tackle threats to public health from infectious diseases?
This strategy aims to improve the UKHSA’s ability to detect and understand pathogens that pose the greatest risk to people in the country and will inform policy decisions with the best possible scientific evidence.
It is said by the UKHSA that the sequenced genomes combined with other health data and research could be a powerful tool for understanding how and why a pathogen is behaving among a human population.
Pathogen genomics are central to keeping people safe from infectious diseases
By harnessing existing capacity and expertise within pathogen genomics, the strategy has seven aims. These include optimising clinical and public health decision-making in both local and global settings; improving diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics; providing a natural, scaled-up pathogen genomics service; supporting a workforce transformation within the UKHSA and beyond; committing to data sharing and global collaboration; drive innovation; and building high-impact services that are good value for money.
This will help to support efforts in antimicrobial resistance, emerging infections, and biosecurity, as well as vaccine-preventable diseases and elimination programmes.
Chief Executive at the UKHSA, Professor Dame Jenny Harries, said that the UK’s Covid-19 response showcased how genomics can be integrated into public health systems to inform local, national, and global decisions.
The Professor explained: “UK experts in the field of pathogen genomics made a vital contribution to the Covid-19 pandemic response and pathogen genomics remains central to the national and international effort to keep the public safe from many other types of infectious disease threats, from tuberculosis to mpox and avian influenza.
“We know it will become even more important in the years to come, and our new strategy will ensure that UKHSA continues to be at the forefront of implementing this technology to keep our communities safe, save lives, and protect livelihoods.”
Genomics have already been shown to inform treatment choices
More than three million SARS-CoV-2 sequences were submitted to the GISAID database by the UK, which is more than any other nation besides the USA and a quarter of the global total.
Genomics has also shown value when identifying foodborne outbreaks, assessing the risk of mpox and influenza, in addition to informing treatment choices for diseases such as tuberculosis.
Deputy Director for emerging infections and clinical lead for the genomics programme at the UKHSA, Dr Meera Chand, added: “The new UKHSA Pathogen Genomics Strategy will provide a framework for us to build on our already substantial capacity in this area, and to implement genomics across all our work to keep the public safe from threats to their health.”
Integrating genomics into every aspect of infectious disease control has the potential to bring substantial benefits to health security.
