§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for the NHS of developments which allow prognosis of an individual's future health based on analysis of genetic material. [5948]
§ Ms JowellThe Department of Health and the Medical Research Council are currently jointly establishing an Advisory Group on Scientific Advances in Genetics (AGSAG) to advise the Department and the Medical Research Council on the implications of advances in genetic science for the National Health Service, public health and medical research. AGSAG will advise the Chief Medical Officer and the NHS Director of Research and Development on the likely implications for public health and for the NHS of scientific advances in genetics and will also advise the NHS Executive Board on the establishment and evaluation of innovative genetic services and their longer term development.
The department also takes advice from a number of other specialist bodies including the Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing which advises United Kingdom Health Ministers on genetic testing issues, and the Expert Advisory Group on Cancer which advises the Secretaries of State for Health and Wales and the Chief Medical Officers for England and Wales on the organisation of cancers services including the implications of cancer genetics.