Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Less than 1% of the population is seen in university based hospitals while most of the population seeking medical care are seen in a primary healthcare setting. Primary care (PC) fills a huge gap between the general healthy population and the university teaching hospital in provision of healthcare services. Patients seeking medical care in a primary setting present with symptoms that do not always render towards diagnosis. However, having a biobank in PC is key in studying trends, susceptibilities to disease and obtaining population data. A PC biobank can consist of a collection of biological samples and data to investigate disease,symptoms,signs and the relationship between environmental factors and diseases before it leads to pathological changes. It can facilitate earlier diagnosis presented in the general practice as well as elucidate their mechanism of production and their significance for the patient. A population biobank has the power to translate genetic discoveries into clinical practice. However,it is donated by thousands of individuals from the general population who might or not have disease or use a healthcare service. But, the challenges we face in a PC biobank is multifaceted. These can relate to the nature and organizational aspect such as patient sampling (population), governance and the type of collections (data and biospecimen) in a PC setting. A PC biobank can provide some reliable assessment of lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors as determinants of chronic disease.