Health innovation and commercialization ecosystems and public health emergency response systems

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates how vital it is for the Alberta government to incorporate precision health (PH) planning into its public health ecosystem. Public health shocks demand quick thinking, rapid adaptation and good decision- making driven by data. PH offers all that and more, and not just in health care. In ordinary times, PH tailors diagnosis and treatment to an individual patient’s needs. When a crisis arises, PH focuses on assessing risks to provide targeted interventions and treatments to larger populations. A crisis is unfolding around us and it’s revealing gaps in areas outside public health, such as education, community services and the travel and financial industries. The multidisciplinary focus of PH data, and the innovation and commercialization (I&C) systems accompanying it, could support social services as they respond to COVID-19. For example, demographic information about the housing needs of vulnerable populations could guide targeted funding for people who rely on caregivers for their daily living needs. This communiqueÌ makes two important recommendations about the current health crisis. It’s being published along with a paper on the barriers to a home- grown PH I&C system and how the public and private sectors should tear those barriers down. Currently, there is a lack of co-ordination in the areas of innovation networks, facilitating discovery, governance and decision-making, and risk and procurement– all of which hinder the establishment of a PH I&C system. This situation exists because there is no mandated organization for PH I&C. If, for example, there were a formal process in which social services stakeholders could contribute to health policy discussions, sourcing recommendations and acting on them would take less time. The first recommendation is that, a provincial governance structure for PH I&C should be established, so policy leaders from the I&C ecosystem can co-ordinate their efforts and co-operate in their work. This structure would increase the ability to streamline responses by combining resources, drafting policies, reducing duplication and building new partnerships. Second, the government should create incentives to promote greater collaboration in that ecosystem. Right now, there is a stand-off between academia and government/research funders because the latter are focused on seeing the dollars go to specific health-care issues. PH I&C invites economic diversification, research into new technologies and fresh investment, offering potential for growth at a time Alberta desperately needs it. With a PH I&C structure in place, Alberta would be able to provide significant benefits to individuals requiring care in normal times, and the province would also be out in front on public health policy in times of crisis. A well-co-ordinated PH public health model would improve Alberta’s ability to respond swiftly and creatively when a public health emergency like COVID-19 strikes.