The Ministry of Health and the Latvian Biomedical Research and Studies Centre have entered into an agreement regarding Latvia's participation in the European genome project and the establishment of a reference for the genome of Latvian residents, which will be financed from the European Recovery Fund. It is the first contract entered into by the Ministry of Health within the framework of the Recovery Fund.
The main objective of the project is to establish a reference for the genome of the inhabitants of Latvia, which will be used for research, disease prevention and treatment optimization, and to ensure its inclusion in a single European genome database. The establishment of the National Population Genome Reference is planned within the framework of the National Population Genome database, the maintenance and main processor of which is the Latvian Biomedical Research and Studies Centre. The total financing of the project is EUR 2 322 750, of which EUR 1 955 000 is financed by the European Recovery Fund and the co-financing of the public budget EUR 367 750.
The reference for the genome of the inhabitants of Latvia should be established by 31 March 2024. Including the establishment of a data-processing and storage framework by 31 December 2022, the full genome sequencing for 3500 samples should be carried out by 31 December 2023. Genome sequencing is a process during which his DNA set - genetic information about the individual - is derived from the human being. Within the framework of the project:
donor involvement,
harvesting and logistics of biological samples,
processing of biological materials,
full genome sequencing (for 3500 samples),
development of ICT infrastructure for data processing and storage, including The establishment of a national ICT infrastructure and data processing system under the Digital Transformation Program of the Recovery Fund plan to ensure safe access to genome data at European level.
Researchers and medics will thus be able to analyze and compare genetic and clinical information in humans, which will help early detection of diseases, forecast their development and decide on the best ways to improve health.
We have already reported that Latvia has joined the European Commission's declaration of 10 April 2018 entitled “1 + million genome declaration”, which provides for the establishment of a gene database of at least one million European citizens. The aim is to ensure access to genetic and related health data in a safe and protected manner for health care (prevention, diagnosis and treatment), research and innovation purposes.
It is intended to establish a data infrastructure to ensure the safe storage and cross-border access of national genome data in the countries concerned, rather than storage in the center European repository. Under the 1 + MG initiative, the European Genome of Europe Project is planned to develop a representative cohort of the 500 000 European population reference genome, which will form half of the European 1 + MG initiative.
It has already been reported that the Recovery and Resilience Facility is the European Commission's budgetary program, established in addition to the European Union's (EU) multi-annual budget for the programming period from 2021 to 2027. It aims to support reforms and investments related to the transition to the green and digital economy and to mitigate the social and economic impacts of the crisis.
Within the framework of the Recovery Fund, EUR 181 500 000 has been allocated to the health sector in order to develop patient-centred integrated and comprehensive healthcare, increase service efficiency and strengthen the provision of outpatient services. The deadline for the implementation of the recovery fund plan shall be until 2026.
The Latvian Population Genome Reference Project is implemented in accordance with the provisions of the Public Health Guidelines for 2021-2027.
