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Indonesia can be regional leader in cardiovascular genomics
Cardiovascular genomics research has so far been dominated by Western studies on Caucasian populations, so Indonesia has an opportunity to pioneer this growing field relative to the genetic diversity represented in Southeast Asia.
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With all heart: A cardiologist performs an echocardiography test during the launch of the cardiovascular center at Metropolitan Medical Center Hospital in South Jakarta on Jan. 23, 2020. (Tribunnews/Jeprima)
T
he government, through the Health Ministry, is now transforming the national health system and has recently launched the Biomedical and Genomic Science Initiative (BGSi). According to the ministry’s statement, genome sequencers will be available in several national referral hospitals for cancer, stroke, metabolic diseases, infectious diseases and healthy aging.
Surprisingly, neither cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) diseases nor Harapan Kita hospital were specifically mentioned as a priority center for cardiovascular genomic research.
One might argue that cardiovascular diseases are included in metabolic diseases. However, cardiovascular diseases are not limited to metabolic diseases and therefore inherited non-metabolic cardiovascular diseases are not covered by this term. There is urgency for accelerating cardiovascular genomic research in Indonesia, which could lead the country to becoming the potential leader of cardiovascular genomics in Southeast Asia.
Genomics is a discipline that specifically studies the genome (the complete set of an individual’s genes) and how these genes interact with each other or the environment. This can be utilized further to predict, prevent or treat genetic disorders, or inherited health conditions.
Genomic studies is inseparable from gene sequencing, in which a certain part of the genome or the whole genome is sequenced with a sequencer to figure out the exact sequence of DNA, the building block of genes and therefore, the genome. A change in the DNA sequence of a certain gene or genes might lead to the occurrence of certain diseases or increase an individual’s susceptibility to some diseases. Hence, genomic studies provides a sophisticated approach to identify health problems at the molecular level and is deemed the future of health care and personalized medicine.
There has been an increasing prevalence in Indonesia of noncommunicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), in recent years. From 2013 to 2018, the prevalence of hypertension increased from 25.8 percent to 34.1 percent. Considering that hypertension is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure, an increased prevalence of these devastating diseases is not unexpected in the years to come, especially with improved life expectancy.
According to the 2014 Sample Registration System (SRS) survey, coronary heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death in Indonesia. Data from the 2013 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) revealed that coronary heart disease had the highest prevalence among all cardiovascular diseases in Indonesia at 42.3 percent, higher than stroke (38.3 percent).
