Religious Perspectives on Precision Medicine in Singapore

Abstract

Precision medicine (PM) aims to revolutionise healthcare, but little is known about the role religion and spirituality might play in the ethical discourse about PM. This Perspective reports the outcomes of a knowledge exchange fora with religious authorities in Singapore about data sharing for PM. While the exchange did not identify any foundational religious objections to PM, ethical concerns were raised about the possibility for private industry to profiteer from social resources and the potential for genetic discrimination by private health insurers. According to religious authorities in Singapore, sharing PM data with private industry will require a clear public benefit and robust data governance that incorporates principles of transparency, accountability and oversight.

When Biobanks Meet Religion: Association Between Religiosity and Attitudes of Polish Medical Students Toward Biobanking of Human Biological Material for Research Purposes

“…Another study conducted in the same country showed that, although religious Malaysians often perceived biobanking as beneficial, they were also more critical of certain risks underlying its application, often opting for study-specific consent (Amin et al, 2018 ). Similarly, although religious authorities in Singapore supported participation in biobank research and often defined donation in altruistic terms, they were also reluctant toward the use of health-related data for commercial purposes, and were concerned over the potential for genetic discrimination by private health insurers (Toh et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Simultaneously, although socioecological context has been recognized as an important component that can influence the public’s attitudes toward biobanking, previous research focused on the influence of various demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial factors, such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, or personality traits (Domaradzki & Pawlikowski, 2019 ; Pawlikowski et al, 2022 ; Sedlár & Grežo, 2022 ). Meanwhile, one key factor that can affect biobanks is religion (Eisenhauer & Arslanian-Engoren, 2016 ; Toh et al, 2021 ; Yeary et al, 2020 ). Particularly in countries with a strong regard for religion, religious beliefs surrounding the human body and its parts can affect one’s perception of body organs, donation, and scientific research, and can influence donors’ decisions regarding biobanking (Ahram et al, 2014 ; De Vries et al, 2016a ; Goddard et al, 2009 ; Hasrizul et al, 2017 ; Igbe & Adebamowo, 2012 ; Merdad et al, 2017 ).…”