The president elect of the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG), professor Jean-Jacques Cassiman, has called for further advances in the field of genetic testing.

Speaking at the 2008 European Human Genetics Conference in Barcelona this week, he said that patients suffering from genetic diseases across the EU are already benefiting from the work of EuroGenetest.

However, he highlighted: "One in 17 of us will suffer from a genetic disease. With the cost of diagnosis and treatment growing rapidly, genetic testing urgently needs to be harmonised across the EU."

According to professor Cassiman, providing patients and their families with information on laboratories offering genetic tests and main genetic disorders is key for moving forward.

"This is we believe essential since many of the diseases are extremely rare, specialist testing laboratories are often not local and may even be in different countries," he explained.

"In addition, genetic testing often results in considerable stress to patients and their families and so we have also produced a series of freely available patient information leaflets."

Figures show that approximately 30 million people across Europe suffer from genetic conditions, costing the EU health sector an estimated €500 million.

EuroGenetest reports that 1,500 centres in Europe conduct genetic tests for around 1,000 genetic diseases.

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