Abu Dhabi DoH makes pharmacogenomic reports accessible through the Malaffi platform

The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) is revolutionizing healthcare by making pharmacogenomic (PGx) reports accessible through the Malaffi platform. This innovative step enables healthcare providers in the Emirate to design personalized treatment plans based on a patient's unique genetic profile, improving the overall quality of care and minimizing the risk of adverse drug reactions.

By leveraging insights from the Emirati Genome Programme, this initiative is a significant leap toward advancing precision medicine in Abu Dhabi.

How does it work?

Pharmacogenomic (PGx) reports analyze how a patient's genetic makeup influences their response to medications, providing healthcare providers with critical information for tailoring treatment plans. These reports are integrated into the Malaffi Health Information Exchange (HIE) platform, operated by Abu Dhabi Health Data Services (ADHDS), an M42 company. Through analyzing 23 pharmacogenes that impact 128 different medications, healthcare providers can make informed decisions regarding drug interactions, pharmacokinetics (how the body metabolizes drugs), and pharmacodynamics (the effects of drugs on the body).

By utilizing these reports, healthcare professionals can more precisely adjust therapeutic regimens for patients, reducing adverse drug reactions and improving the efficacy of treatments. The reports are currently available for various conditions — including cancer, mental health, respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases — allowing providers to better serve eligible patients.

Why does it matter?

The availability of PGx reports marks a significant advancement in personalized medicine, helping to avert 20-30% of adverse drug reactions for eligible participants in the Emirati Genome Programme.

As Dr. Asma Ibrahim Al Mannaei, Executive Director of the Health Life Science Sector at DoH, highlights: "Up to 99 percent of patients have at least one actionable gene variant that increases the risk of adverse drug reactions."

Non-optimized prescriptions not only waste time and resources but can also lead to preventable drug reactions and incomplete treatment adherence.

This personalized approach offers the potential to significantly reduce these risks, improving patient outcomes while ensuring that the treatments are as effective and efficient as possible. It's not just about treating illness—it's about providing the right treatment at the right time for each individual, minimizing trial and error in prescribing medications.

The context

The integration of PGx reports through the Malaffi platform aligns with Abu Dhabi's broader healthcare strategy, which focuses on enhancing precision medicine and elevating the Emirate's standing on the global healthcare stage. Precision medicine, backed by genomic data, has the potential to transform how we approach healthcare by offering treatments tailored specifically to patients' genetic profiles.

The initiative also taps into the vast data provided by the Emirati Genome Programme, ensuring that the healthcare system is more efficient and more responsive to the individual needs of its diverse population. This represents a key milestone in Abu Dhabi's journey to become a leader in precision medicine, contributing to better healthcare outcomes, both locally and globally.