Genomic sequencing has played a crucial role in combating the COVID-19 pandemic — both through identifying and tracking the spread of the virus and its variants, and in the development of vaccines.
Many stakeholders came together to bring this technology into laboratories across the globe, Dr. Phil Febbo, the chief medical officer at Illumina, told Devex. But as the risk of future disease outbreaks increases, wider use of sequencing combined with partnerships across public and private sectors would put the world in a better position to prevent and overcome new pandemics, he explained.
Genomic sequencing can also serve as the path to improved health outcomes when it comes to other major killers across the globe, including HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, as well as noncommunicable diseases such as cancer. The importance of the technology has been recognized by the World Health Organization, which has issued a report calling for the expansion of genomics for global health and giving several recommendations to overcome current obstacles.
In a conversation with Devex on the sidelines of the 77th U.N. General Assembly in New York, Febbo shared his views on the importance of genomic sequencing for global health and the barriers to scaling the technology.
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