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Abstract
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In our modern world of information overload, new buzzwords arrive and disappear rapidly. A few take root, emerge on a national agenda, provoke societal change and lasting transformation. Precision Medicine and Precision Public Health are the newcomers; what do these terms mean precisely, and will the whole idea stick? Their definitions of them are sprawling, conversations and contradictions bustling, and a growing interest among scientists, practitioners, the public, and policymakers is about whether precision can bring new solutions to complex public health issues.
The essence of being precise is to come closer to truth, to be more accurate, or to achieve results with better efficiency then traditionally or commonly used tools. Striving for truth, quality, and efficiency is the ultimate goal of health-related fields. The advancement of science is driven by the push for more precision and accuracy. Microbiologists developed powerful microscopes to discover new pathogens more quickly and with higher precision; immunologists established and coded blood types to ensure successful organ transplantation; epidemiologists set up global monitoring systems to learn when, where, and how an outbreak would strike. It is logical to see 'precision' in public health, medicine, and industry as a well-tested approach based on solid evidence and grounded theory. So, if medicine and public health already strive to be precise, what is new here?
In 2016, the US White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation convened the Precision Public Health Summit at the University of California, San Francisco, to explore how precision approaches can be successfully applied to improve population health and address health disparities. The event promoted a Precision Medicine approach to public health. Leaders in the field define Precision Medicine as a set of activities aiming "to collect, connect, and apply vast amounts of scientific research data and individuals' health records--from the basic molecular understanding of disease to clinical, environmental, psychosocial, and mobile lifestyle data--to understand why people respond differently to treatments and to guide more precise and predictive medicine and health for populations worldwide." [1]. Advocates of this new idea claimed that precision public health goes beyond personalized treatment for individuals and the word 'precision' in the context of public health refers to improving "the ability to prevent disease, promote health, and reduce health disparities in populations by (1) applying emerging methods and technologies for measuring disease, pathogens, exposures, behaviors, and susceptibility in populations; and (2) developing policies and targeted public health programs to improve health"...
Language: en |