Global Perspectives on Precision Medicine: Ethical, Social and Public Health Implications

This book presents the promises of Precision Medicine (PM) and the challenges of its implementation in daily clinical routine, while addressing the anticipated ethical and social implications. It is the first book that critically analyzes the potential and the dilemmas relevant to genomics and precision medicine from healthcare, public health and global perspectives. The nine chapters presented in this book elaborate on pharmacogenomics’ crucial role in maximizing the potential benefits and minimizing medication’s potential risks in groups of people, especially in cancer treatment and other health conditions. Infectious and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are also discussed in this book by identifying challenges and ways to overcome them. Essential concepts are addressed, such as health-related benefits and harm to individuals and the broader community, including threats to individual privacy and autonomy, which warrant just distribution of scarce resources. The book also identifies and addresses the lack of competency in the healthcare workforce in the era of PM and discusses the path to laying the ethical foundation for the implementation of PM in healthcare organizations.

Evangel Sarwar has a PhD in Healthcare Ethics from Duquesne University, an MPH from California State University, San Bernardino, and a BSc. in Computer Science from University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Sarwar has always been passionate about working with communities, for the people, and the betterment of society. Eva is a firm believer in social justice and equity, and believes there is a need to reduce the disparities that exist between the have and the have nots. As the Senior Ethics Fellow at Bon Secours Mercy Health, she advocated for a diverse workforce in healthcare organizations and taught the importance of setting aside bias, and treating every patient with respect and dignity regardless of their race, denomination, socioeconomic status, and religion. Eva is very keen on learning how to better address the challenges of rapid socioeconomic, cultural, and technological changes in healthcare while carrying out innovative research to advance ethical aspects of healthcare and healthpolicy.