NEWS
HDR UK AND GA4GH FORM A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO UNITE GENOMIC AND HEALTH DATA
Health Data Research UK ( HDR UK ) and the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health ( GA4GH ) have announced a strategic partnership to expand existing open standards work and collaborate in the wider health data space . Together , both organisations plan to learn from global partners and promote adoption of health data related standards around the world .
“ There ’ s a history of genomic data sharing for research , dating back to 1990 with the launch of the Human Genome Project ,” said GA4GH CEO , Peter Goodhand . “ But to truly realise the promise of precision medicine , we must enable responsible and ethical use of health data as well . By partnering with HDR UK , we can make strides towards bridging the gap between research and healthcare .”
“ We are excited to work more closely with GA4GH ,” said Andrew Morris , Director of HDR UK . “ Standards are critical in the analysis of large-scale datasets , enabling collaboration and enhancing reproducibility to deliver innovative research for public benefit ”.
GA4GH is an international community of hundreds of leading organisations in healthcare , patient advocacy , research , ethics , government , life science and information technology working together to advance human health through genomic data . Its members develop technical standards , policy frameworks and tools to expand the responsible and secure use of genomic and related health data for the benefit of human health .
The partnership with HDR UK marks GA4GH ’ s first strategic relationship with a health data research organisation .
HANDING OUT VAPES IN A & E HELPS SMOKERS QUIT
Giving out free e-cigarette starter packs to smokers in hospital A & E departments helps more people quit , NIHR-funded research finds . Academics from the University of East Anglia conducted a trial in six UK emergency departments between January and August 2022 . The study ’ s results have published in the Emergency Medicine Journal .
The research team hopes the initiative will be rolled out to hospitals nation-wide . They say it could result in more than 22,000 extra people quitting smoking each year .
A total of 972 smokers took part , all of whom attended A & E for any reason . They were randomly assigned to receive either smoking advice , an e-cigarette starter pack and referral to local stop smoking services – or just ‘ usual care ’ written information about locally available stop smoking services .
Both groups of patients were asked if they were still smoking one , three and six months after they attended hospital . Those who reported quitting after six months were asked to undergo a carbon monoxide breath test .
Researchers found :
• Six months later , almost 1 in 4 people given the starter packs said they had quit smoking . It also showed that people were twice as likely to quit smoking having received the intervention than not
• People were twice as likely to quit smoking having received the intervention than not
• Those who received the packs but didn ’ t quit altogether , were more likely to have reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked
Dr Ian Pope , from UEA ’ s Norwich Medical School , and an emergency physician , said : “ Emergency departments in England see more than 24 million people each year of whom around a quarter are current smokers .”
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