Highlights
- Precision Medicine Focus: The law supports biobank integration with healthcare data for personalized treatments.
- Paediatric Cancer Initiative: Swiss-Latvian collaboration enhances diagnostics and research at the Children’s Clinical University Hospital.
- Ethical & Regulatory Strengthening: Emphasizes informed consent, privacy protection, and research accessibility.
To promote the development of precision medicine and research with human-origin biological materials both in Latvia and internationally, the government has supported the draft Biobank Law. It still needs to be reviewed by the Saeima (Parliament).
A biobank is a collection of human biological sample data, such as human cells, body fluids, tissue or organ parts, etc. Biobanks can be managed by scientific institutions or medical establishments. The law introduces clear regulations for the establishment and operation of biobanks, stipulating requirements for their creation, operational conditions, and technical standards. All activities involving biological samples must adhere to ethical principles, data protection regulations, donor rights, and consent procedures.
“Advancing the Biobank Law is an important step towards modern healthcare. Nowadays, effective and patient-centred healthcare is unimaginable without the development of precision medicine, which ensures more personalised treatment and prevention, reducing the duration of treatment. Technological advances and artificial intelligence solutions open new opportunities for the development of precision medicine. The implementation of this approach requires biobanks and their integration with other health data systems, making biobank management multidimensional, where regulatory frameworks and practical guidelines are crucial,” stated Minister for Health Hosams Abu Meri.
Targeted progress towards the implementation of precision medicine is being pursued by the Children’s Clinical University Hospital as part of the Swiss-Latvian cooperation programme “Development of Paediatric Cancer Care in Latvia.” This initiative focuses on improved disease diagnostics, personalised treatment approaches, increased capacity of pathology and molecular laboratories, providing a clinical base for medical personnel education, and establishing a monitoring system for children who have overcome oncological diseases.
“The adoption of the Biobank Law will foster research development and enable broader biobank creation in medical institutions, involving patients in research. A key prerequisite for building trusting relationships between patients, healthcare providers, and researchers is the protection of human dignity and the right to privacy. Therefore, the law emphasises the importance of informed and dynamic consent. This regulation is particularly significant for the Children’s Hospital, because each biological sample collection is associated with medical procedures that may be uncomfortable for patients. Access to samples collected previously can reduce the need for repeated sampling, open new treatment possibilities, or enable participation in significant research,” explained Elīna Dimiņa, Head of the Education and Science Department at the Children’s Clinical University Hospital.
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