Presentation of Young Scientists

At the beginning of the afternoon, young scientists outlined different aspects of personalized medicine from an Indian, Islamic and Swiss point of view. Abhishek Thakore from India explained that that there is an enormous gap between the living standards of the different levels of population in India. Only a very small portion of the population has a health insurance. The big challenge lies in the three areas of economy, environment and social affairs as they characterize sustainability. Only solutions to the benefit of a large portion of the population are good solutions.

Fatima Farzana from Pakistan outlined that personalized medicine is not of utmost priority in her country. People die of diseases that could have been avoided with preventive measures. 20 million people do not have access to health care. Furthermore, it is a common thinking in the Islamic world that it is in Allah’s hand whether a person gets better. First priority is the treatment of diseases such as poliomyelitis that do not exist any longer in the Western World. Access to drinking water and housing are not guaranteed either. Therefore, personalized medicine has no priority in Pakistan. Fatima Farzana underlined that progress is only a progress if a large portion of the population can benefit from it.

Rodrigo Santos from Brazil reported that, for example in China, genetic analysis is carried out to determine whether a child can become a top athlete. The question is whether parents have the right to receive genetic information regarding their children and make then their selection.

Shuyang Xu, Fabian Jenny and Micha Gundelfinger, who are all members of the Swiss Study Foundation, presented the Swiss perspective. Unlike Pakistan and India, Switzerland offers an ideal environment for personalized medicine. Additionally, there is enough money for research. And in line with that, the patients have high requirements. Dialogue between doctors and patients is very important. People are getting older and therefore, the number of cancer cases increases. There is a demand for new methods and a market for them. However, personalized medicine is not often on the news and the population is poorly informed. In order to make progress, large data arrays have to be generated and this is where the population has to participate. Correct information of the population and the doctors is needed. However, it is a fact, that the pharmaceutical industry investigates for better diagnosis methods and patients want better medication.

Introductionn by YES

Presentation of Abhishek Thakore

Presentation of Fatima Farzana

Presentation of Rodrigo Santos