Last year at the same time, the coronavirus had put the world on hold. In 2021, the coronavirus still has a grip on us, and we have all tightened up, used hand sanitizer, kept our distance and perhaps even cancelled events, so that the Christmas peace can now spread in Denmark, in our families wherever it is in the world.
Everyone in the world, from young to old, has lived under the changed conditions that have come with the coronavirus. We have become accustomed to holding digital meetings and we have gotten the best out of it. At the Danish National Genome Center, we held the first national annual meeting for personalised medicine as a hybrid meeting. There were both presenters and participants from near and far, digitally and with a physical presence. From both the international and national teams, the point at the annual meeting was that the effect of using comprehensive genetic analysis to a greater extent is clear: There are more patients, who receive a diagnosis. For some patients, the effect is crystallised in that they also receive a treatment that works. As one cancer patient, who has benefited from a comprehensive genetic analysis, said in a video at the annual meeting: “I could imagine many cruel things. You feel an incredible gratitude.”
Personalised medicine is about making it better for patients. With the Danish National Genome Center, together with national and international experts, we must create a future for patients in Denmark with better assessment, better diagnosis and more options for treatment of serious and life-threatening diseases. We must promote new knowledge about personalised medicine at home and abroad, and we must cooperate across national borders. Only in this way do we ensure the treatment of the future.
Denmark can be proud that there are already patients, who benefit from the national infrastructure for personalised medicine, and that more patients are on the way. That milestone is largely due to the experts in the clinical and research environments, who drive the development of personalised medicine. Those who work every day to offer the individual patient the best treatment. Those who work every day to find new and improved treatments. Those who ensure the voice of citizens and patients, when we develop personalised medicine. Denmark has done this through an open and involving process, where we together and through knowledge, diligence and commitment have given patients the benefit of the Danish infrastructure for personalised medicine.
We owe it to the patients that Denmark seizes the opportunity, which we have had with a historically large donation, and takes a common step forward in the development of personalised medicine. We have the infrastructure in place, we have the law in place and we are ready to lift as a strong national team. Researchers have knocked on the door of the Danish National Genome Center for a long time, and now the door is open for the first researcher working on the infrastructure. More researchers will follow in 2022. Our international ambitions must also be high. We need to mirror our initiatives for personalised medicine and collaboration to make it better for patients. Here, too, we must be brave, but under a reassuring framework.
Let 2022 be the year in which Denmark shows that we can lift as a team across clinics and research, across disciplines, regions, universities, collaborators, government agencies and national borders. Where a unique national genome database creates value for the patient and for new and improved treatments. We must strive for a future where we - based on advanced technology and health professional knowledge - can support progress in the treatment of serious and life-threatening diseases.
I hope the Christmas peace will soon spread, and we find time for each other and can be together, even if the coronavirus has not left us.
Thank you for your cooperation in 2021.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Let us take care of each other.
Bettina Lundgren