MUSCAT: The approval by the Council of Ministers in its meeting chaired by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, to establish the National Genome and Human Data Centre (Genome Oman), constitutes a qualitative step towards enhancing the quality of healthcare in the Sultanate of Oman by boosting the ability to accurately diagnose diseases and develop specialised treatments for patients.
This was stated by Professor Dr Khalid bin Hamid al Rasadi, Director of Medical Research Centre, Sultan Qaboos University. He noted that genetic biological samples and genomics are part of the national security content and the programme will set up policies to secure data, regulations and ethical standards for collecting, analysing and using data in a manner that ensures data confidentiality, and the privacy and rights of individuals and the society.
The centre will contribute to establishing a national reference database for genomic data, enhancing genomic research and national self-sufficiency for local cadres in the field of genomics and bioinformatics; and stimulating knowledge economy in the fields of biotechnology and genomics, he said.
Al Rasadi explained that the genetic and genomic database will contribute to improving health care by developing genetic examination and survey programmes including premarital, prenatal and newborn genomic examinations for rare genetic diseases and also focusing on common diseases such as heart and arterial diseases, diabetes, tumors and lifestyle factors.
He noted that this will be an important factor in early detection, prediction and avoidance of genetic diseases and will guide health planning, improve preventive health care and reduce health care costs for genetic diseases.
The centre will enrich the research and innovation fields for rare and common genetic diseases such as familial hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes, breast tumors and other diseases; and this will lead to the development of innovative tests and treatments, enable experimental research and clinical trials, and enhance the position of the Sultanate of Oman as a scientific reference in the field of genome research, Al Rasadi concluded. — ONA
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