Introduction: of Genomics and Public Health: Building Public Goods?

Abstract

Global public goods favor the mechanism of public information resources. This part explains two main privacy issues surrounding public health genomics. The first issue is determining the proper scope of public health genomics. The second issue involves protecting informational privacy when individual genomic information is disclosed for public health purposes. It explores some of tensions in the context of public policy in relation to genetic testing and insurance. Public policy frequently has to reconcile tensions between public and private interest, while recognising the importance of privacy and autonomy and balancing the interests. The part explains public opinion and highlighting data that suggests individuals are not uniformly in favour of one-time consent models for biobanks. The integration of genome-based knowledge and technologies into public health research, policies and health services for the benefit of all will be one of the most important future challenges that our healthcare systems will face. Keywords: biobanks; genetic testing; global public goods; healthcare systems; privacy issues; public health genomics; public health research; public policy