In parallel, a new biobank law was drafted in Sweden after headlines about companies seeing hospital tissue samples as openly available for them to collect. The new law came into force in January 2003 and changed the awareness of how we handle samples in Sweden.
Important for research and healthcare
Samples are not only important for research but also for healthcare, where they are essential for diagnosis and treatment. Most samples are discarded after analysis, but many, especially in the fields of pathology, microbiology and genetics, are saved for the future care of patients and their families. Samples can also be made available for research.
Deserving of more attention
Despite this critical value for both healthcare and research, biobanks and biobank samples are relatively invisible. Biobank Sweden, which is a national, joint infrastructure between 21 regions and 7 universities with medical faculties, is often forgotten as a discussion partner. The government emphasises biobanks as important in its research proposal but does not seem to understand what is important. Our colleagues at the medical laboratories that collect and analyse the samples are questioned and, despite working hard to be as efficient as possible, are still faced with large savings requirements.
I have read countless documents, reports, national strategy documents etc. that mention biobanks and biobanking as something important. That is great, but I also see that people do not always seem to understand what they are talking about. What is truly important and valuable when it comes to biobanks and biobanking? Has biobank become one of those buzzwords that people throw around but don't really understand what it means?
New biobank law provides new opportunities
On 1 July this year, another new biobank law comes into force. The new law provides opportunities for a new approach. It allows us to shed light on the biobank issue again, we can be more harmonised across the country, and new conditions for research and international cooperation are created. The introduction will involve a massive information and education effort, and I hope that after this, everyone will know what a biobank is.