Under a new action plan, healthy infants in the UK are to undergo whole-genome sequencing in an effort to screen for rare disease, the Times reports.
It adds that the UK government has developed a plan to combine technology and digital tools to support faster diagnoses of rare disease, which it says affects about 3.5 million people in the UK. According to the Department of Health and Social Care, the plan includes a new research pilot program to sequence health infants to screen for rare diseases, a new digital tool called GeNotes to enable healthcare providers to access information on rare disease quickly to support diagnoses, and pilot programs to improve care for individuals with rare diseases.
According to the Independent, the UK government is also providing £40 million (US $53.5 million) in funding for the National Institute for Health Research BioResource to better characterize rare diseases.
"I am committed to levelling up our health system so that everyone, regardless of their condition, can receive treatment that is tailored to their needs," Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, says in a statement.