ABSTRACT
Precision medicine has been announced as a new
health revolution. The term precision implies more accuracy in
healthcare and prevention of
diseases, which could yield substantial
cost savings. However, scientific debate about
precision medicine is needed to avoid wasting economic
resources and hype. In this
commentary, we express the reasons why
precision medicine cannot be a
health revolution for
population health. Advocates of
precision medicine neglect the limitations of individual-centred, high-
risk strategies (reduced
population health impact) and the current crisis of
evidence-based medicine. Overrated "
precision medicine" promises may be serving vested interests, by dictating priorities in the
research agenda and justifying the exorbitant
healthcare expenditure in our finance-based
medicine. If
societies aspire to
address strong
risk factors for
non-communicable diseases (such as
air pollution,
smoking, poor
diets, or
physical inactivity), they need less
medicine and more
investment in
population prevention
strategies.