| This project is part of the NOW program concerned with the social consequences of genomics research. The aim of the project is to understand the consequences of new genetic technologies in the health care system s organization. At the basis of it are two important developments. First of all there s the development of new genetic technologies and increasing knowledge about the role of genes in diseases. Secondly, health care systems in Western Europe are under pressure. Costs are expected to rise over the next couple of years, making the existing arrangements unaffordable. Attempts to control the costs of health care include rationalization of criteria for benefit packages and an increasing focus on disease prevention. Both the predictive nature of (a lot of) genetic diagnosis and the rapid development of new tests and technologies make these attempts especially relevant in the field of genetics. Important questions thus include to what extent people will be held responsible for (the prevention of) disease when they know to be at risk, and for whom new technical options will be made available or not (in other words; where can the limits of solidarity be found?). With these questions in mind this PhD-project focuses on the introduction of genetic technologies and genetic understanding of diseases, and its consequences in the health care system in the Netherlands, Germany and Britain. The cases that will be studied in this project are Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), hereditary breast cancer and familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). |
