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Biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection
A new world-leading biosecurity centre in Harlow, Essex, will protect the UK from emerging public health threats. The national biosecurity centre (NBC) will increase the speed and scale of research into dangerous pathogens and life-saving vaccines, boosting healthcare and economic growth, and protecting UK national security. The government is investing billions of pounds in the project, including £250 million over this Parliament, for vital research and testing that is currently split across UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) sites in Porton Down and Colindale under one roof. Once complete, the NBC will be the largest in Europe, creating around 1,600 new jobs to support construction of the site and enabling the development of new treatments and vaccines that could save countless lives. Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting
said: “This transformational investment in the UK’s national biosecurity will better protect the British public from future health emergencies, boost the life sciences sector and create new jobs. “COVID-19 taught us how crucial it is to be able to
respond quickly to new emerging threats, and the new NBC will allow us to do exactly that - ensuring Britain remains a world leader in pandemic preparedness. Harlow will become a scientific hub,
with the NBC exploring new ways to treat illnesses, improve people’s health and save more lives. By backing innovation, research and life sciences, we will make our NHS fit for the future, and cement the UK as a life sciences superpower as part of our Plan for Change.” Dyfed Alsop, interim UKHSA chief executive, said:
“This is fantastic news for the UK and will mean that we can continue to offer the best possible protection for people’s health for generations to come. A brand-new facility at Harlow will bring together our world-leading public health science and emergency response capabilities, putting us in a stronger position to protect the public and keep people safe. This marks a significant investment
in our future, ensuring that the UK remains a world leader in health security and that we are better prepared against a growing range of health threats.” The NBC will create exciting new partnerships between UKHSA scientists and industry - paving the way for potential research breakthroughs, including in the realm of infectious diseases, environmental health and behavioural sciences. Harlow will deliver state-of-the-art highly secure laboratories that will be used to research the most dangerous and new diseases. Being physically closer to industry partners in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor will furthermore strengthen collaborations. The new facility will form part of a new network
of NBCs recently announced under the 2025 National Security Strategy. This network will strengthen and formalise existing collaborations between UKHSA, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to bolster the UK’s resilience to deliberate, accidental or naturally occurring biological incidents. Work to prepare the NBC for operation will begin as soon as possible, with the first facilities due to open by the mid 2030s and the whole site scheduled to be in operation by 2038.
Three in five liver cancer cases due to preventable risk factors
The majority of liver cancer cases could be prevented by reducing levels of viral hepatitis, alcohol consumption and MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease – previously called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), suggests an analysis as part of The Lancet Commission on liver cancer. The Commission highlights several ways to
reduce these risks factors, including increasing the coverage of the hepatitis B vaccine and public health policies targeting obesity and alcohol consumption. Previous analyses have predicted that the number of new liver cancer cases will nearly double from 870,000 in 2022 to 1.52 million in 2050, primarily due to population growth and ageing populations, with the largest increases expected in Africa. The number of deaths from liver cancer are predicted to grow from 760,000 in 2022 to 1.37 million in 2050.1 Chair of the Commission, Prof. Jian Zhou, Fudan University (China) said: “Liver cancer is a growing health issue around the world. It is one of the most challenging cancers to treat, with five-year survival rates ranging from approximately 5% to 30%. We
risk seeing close to a doubling of cases and deaths from liver cancer over the next quarter of a century without urgent action to reverse this trend.” First author, Prof. Stephen Chan, Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China) added, “As three in five cases of liver cancer are linked to preventable risk factors, mostly viral hepatitis, alcohol and obesity, there is a huge opportunity for countries to target these risk factors, prevent cases of liver cancer and save lives.” In a novel analysis, the Commission estimates that at least 60% of liver cancers are preventable via control of modifiable risk factors, including hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus HCV, MASLD, and alcohol. MASH, a severe form of MASLD, is the fastest growing cause of liver cancer globally, followed by alcohol. The Commission projects that the proportion of liver cancer cases associated with MASH are projected to increase from 8% in 2022 to 11% in 2050, and liver cancer cases associated with alcohol are projected to increase from 19% in 2022 to 21% in 2050. In contrast, the proportion of liver cancer cases linked to HBV is expected to decrease from 39% in 2022 to 37% in
2050, while HCV-related cases are projected to drop from 29% to 26% over the same period. Commission author, Prof. Hashem B El-Serag,
Baylor College of Medicine (US) said, “One approach to identify patients at high risk of liver cancer would be to introduce screening for liver damage into routine healthcare practice for patients at high risk of MASLD, such as individuals living with obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Healthcare professionals should also integrate lifestyle counselling into routine care to support patients to transition to a healthy diet and regular physical activity. Furthermore, policy makers must promote healthy food environments via policies such as sugar taxes and clear labelling on products with high fat, salt, and/or sugar.” Visit:
www.thelancet. com/commissions-do/hepatocellular-carcinoma
Reference 1. Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung HYA, et al. Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 2024; 74: 229–63.
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