Siriraj Hospital provides cancer gene tests to all Thai citizens
 
Siriraj Hospital, one of Thailand’s most advanced hospitals, joins hands with the National Health Security Office (NHSO) to expand gene tests for high-risk cancer patients.
 
Operated under the hospital, Siriraj Genomics Center has committed to providing breast cancer gene mutation tests, known as BRCA1/BRCA2 tests, to Thai people regardless of their financial status.
 
This move follows the government’s recent inclusion of the test in health benefits packages of all government healthcare schemes such as the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS), Social Security Scheme (SSS), and Civil Servant Medical Benefits Scheme (CSMBS).
 
All Thai citizens are now entitled to this service without any cost, especially women at high risk for breast cancer.
 
Dr. Manop Pithukpakorn, Head of the Siriraj Center of Research Excellence (SiCORE) Center for Medical Genomics of Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, said that the NHSO had spearheaded the process to make gene tests available for Thai people.
 
It aims to enhance health promotion and disease prevention services in the health system by preventing cancer, a high-cost disease that reduces workforce productivity and causes mortality.
 
Dr Manop said that most breast cancer cases are caused by genetics. Individuals with family members diagnosed with the disease will likely have a 50% chance of developing the cancer cell.
 
He added that if they can access early screening for genetic mutations, they will be able to prevent the development of cancer cells.
 
In addition, Center for Medical Genomics ,Siriraj has been collecting genetic decoding data through its Thailand Genomics Project, Hoping to find ways to prevent individuals at risk from developing cancer from birth.
 
“The genetic information of all 50,000 participants in the project is of great importance for future medical treatment aiming for precision medicine," said Dr Manop.
 
Implemented from 2019 to 2023, the project has analyzed genetic data from Thai patients in five disease groups such as cancer, rare diseases, non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases, and pharmacogenomics.
 
He emphasized that Thailand is the first country in Southeast Asia to make genomics medicine services accessible to all citizens without any fees, and the second country after Singapore to initiate genomics medicine projects.
 
Despite the significant advancements in medical technology, particularly in precision medicine and genomics medicine, it's a question whether the general public can benefit from it.
 
Dr Manop believes that technology will not create meaningful impacts or improve the health system if it is only accessible to particular groups of people.
 


“Comparing our progress with other countries with similar genomic medicine projects, it's evident that we have made significant advancements,” he said.
 
Despite starting the genomics initiative later than some developed nations, the crucial point is that we can use it to drive policy changes and expand healthcare benefits for the entire population.”
 
However, he noted that access to these services is not yet widespread even though breast cancer screening for high-risk groups is covered in Thailand’s national health security system.
 
The screening is primarily available in large hospitals, medical schools, and cancer excellent centers.
 
Community hospitals and smaller healthcare facilities in some provinces have the potential to offer screening or collect samples for testing. However, there is no clear system or process in place to support this.
 
This lack of infrastructure limits access to breast cancer screening, he said, even though it is believed that there are patients and high-risk groups throughout the country.
 
   ///////