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Review
. 2023 Sep 19:14:1233338.
doi: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1233338. eCollection 2023.

Personalizing medicine in Africa: current state, progress and challenges

Paul Owolabi #  1   2 , Yagoub Adam #  3 , Ezekiel Adebiyi  1   2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

Personalizing medicine in Africa: current state, progress and challenges

Paul Owolabi et al. Front Genet. .

Abstract

Personalized medicine has been identified as a powerful tool for addressing the myriad of health issues facing different health systems globally. Although recent studies have expanded our understanding of how different factors such as genetics and the environment play significant roles in affecting the health of individuals, there are still several other issues affecting their translation into personalizing health interventions globally. Since African populations have demonstrated huge genetic diversity, there is a significant need to apply the concepts of personalized medicine to overcome various African-specific health challenges. Thus, we review the current state, progress, and challenges facing the adoption of personalized medicine in Africa with a view to providing insights to critical stakeholders on the right approach to deploy.

Keywords: Africa; genomics; individualized medicine; personalized medicine; precision medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A schematic representation of the concept underlying personalized medicine. The underlying concepts of personalized medicine aims to prioritize the outcome of the medical treatment.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Progress of research in personalized medicine from the year 1971–2023.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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