DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release (2007/0261) issued by The Government News Network on 11
September 2007
NHS patients
throughout England are being invited to take part in a
multi-million pound visionary medical project supported by the
Department of Health, which will help find out much more about
curing many life threatening and debilitating diseases.
UK Biobank is one of the biggest and most detailed public health
research initiatives of our time. It will provide a valuable
resource for research into a wide range of diseases including
cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, mental illness,
Parkinson's disease, joint and dental disease and many other
life threatening and debilitating conditions.
UK Biobank is recruiting people aged 40-69. With their
permission, it will track their health over the course of the next
30 years or more.
The project aims to recruit 500,000 people across Britain over
the next few years. A successful pilot study to check the
feasibility of this huge undertaking took place in south
Manchester last year. By covering so many people, the UK Biobank
resource will help untangle the complex interplay of nature (e.g.
genes) and nurture (e.g. lifestyle) in the development of many
different diseases. Its goal is not to focus on genes alone, which
may be better done through other sorts of study.
People who agree to take part in UK BIobank will attend a 90
minute assessment at special centres near where they live. They
will be asked to allow UK Biobank to follow them through routine
health records over many years. Participants will answer questions
about their current health and lifestyle and will have a number of
measurements taken, such as blood pressure, weight, lung function
and bone density. They will also be asked to give small samples of
blood and urine. Though not a health check, participants will
leave with a list of personal health-related measurements and some
indication of how they compare to standard values.
The project is led by Rory Collins, British Heart Foundation
Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Oxford University.
Professor Sally Davies, Director General of Research and
Development at the Department of Health joined with him in sending
the invitation letters.
Professor Davies said:
"An important part of the Department of Health's work
is to stand behind research aimed at tackling important health
problems and improving NHS care. Because of its potential for
future generations, the government is glad to join with the
Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council, and others in
supporting UK Biobank. Though it may not directly benefit those
who take part, UK Biobank will help us understand how our children
and our children's children can live longer, healthier lives.
Helping others will, I hope, be a powerful motivation for many
people to take part.
"UK Biobank is not just for the fit and healthy. We shall
get the most from it if it covers the whole population. So if
people who are not in good health receive an invitation, I hope
they too will think about what they could do for others by joining
in this remarkable health project. I am glad to join Professor
Collins in signing the letter inviting patients over 40 to
consider taking part. Of course, it is a completely free choice."
Professor Collins said:
"UK Biobank is a project of which the whole of Britain can
truly be proud. We are talking to lots of British scientists about
the ways this resource can help their research and,
internationally, advising others who want to set up similar
projects in their own countries.
"Health research has taken enormous strides in the past
decade and we know a lot about how our bodies work, but we need to
find out more. In setting up UK Biobank for researchers in the
future - those who many only be in primary or junior school now,
or not even born - we are establishing the blood-based resource to
do just that and making a significant contribution to improving
the health of future generations."
Researchers, including some of the most eminent scientists from
around the world, believe that UK Biobank will be an
extraordinarily important resource for scientists for many years
to come. It will help doctors and other medical researchers to
develop a better understanding of the causes of many common
diseases and to improve their prevention and treatment.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. Taking part in UK Biobank is entirely voluntary. Participants
can withdraw at any time if they wish. Recruitment is by
invitation, but most people aged 40-69 who live within a ten mile
radius of each assessment centre can expect to receive an
invitation to join.
2. Letters inviting people to take part were first sent to people
in Manchester and Oxford in March. Invitation letters will arrive
with Cardiff residents on Thursday, and a press release will be
issued in Wales to coincide with this. Many thousands more will
arrive across the country over the course of the next few months,
as people in other areas get the chance to take part. The
opportunity to take part will be available to people of different
areas of the country as assessment centres are rolled out over the
next few years across England, Wales and Scotland.
3. People who receive letters asking them to participate in UK
Biobank will be offered an appointment time and date. If the time
is inconvenient they can easily change it by calling 0800 0 276
276, Monday to Saturday, 8am-7pm. Participants will be able to
confirm their appointment and find out more by visiting the UK
Biobank website: http://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk
4. At the assessment centres, UK Biobank will give a full
explanation before asking people to confirm their consent. If they
agree to join in they will give baseline information about their
health and wellbeing. Along with blood and urine samples, this
will provide important data for scientists to follow up over the
coming decades when they are trying to work out what causes some
people and not others to develop particular diseases.
5. UK Biobank is a charitable company funded by the Wellcome
Trust, the Medical Research Council, the Department of Health, the
Scottish Executive and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.
It is hosted by the University of Manchester, has the support of
the National Health Service (NHS) and is a collaborative effort
between 22 UK universities.
6. UK Biobank has secured approval from a number of ethics and
regulatory groups in relation to its research remit, recruitment
proves and the storage of blood and urine samples and access to
participants' medical records over many years.
7. The Department of Health is helping UK Biobank to invite the
right people by using NHS records to generate personalised
invitations. An expert unit is processing the contact details in
confidence, just in order to identify people in the right age
group and write to them offering an appointment. The expert unit
will keep the contact details long enough to make sure letters do
not go to people who have refused to take part, have already been
invited, or have recently died. This invitation process does not
involve access to confidential medical records. No medical records
will pass to the UK Biobank without the individuals' consent.
[ENDS]