PS Shaukat Calls for Collaborative Action to Advance Personalized Medicine in Kenya The Principal Secretary for the State Department for Science, Research and Innovation, Prof. Shaukat Abdulrazak, EBS, today presided over the National Stakeholders Forum on Research and Innovation for Personalized Medicine as the Chief Guest, reaffirming the Government's commitment to advancing precision healthcare through science, research and innovation. The forum, being held on Thursday, 16 July 2026, at NACOSTI Plaza, has brought together policymakers, researchers, healthcare professionals, patient advocates and development partners to initiate consultations towards the development of a National Strategy for the adoption and contextualization of personalized medicine within Kenya's research and innovation ecosystem. Organized by the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), the forum aligns with the Commission's mandate of regulating and assuring quality in the science, technology and innovation sector, developing national priorities for science, technology and innovation, and advising the Government on science, technology and innovation policy. In his keynote address, Prof. Abdulrazak said the consultations mark an important milestone in positioning Kenya to embrace personalized medicine as a transformative approach to healthcare. He noted that personalized medicine has the potential to improve patient outcomes by enabling treatments tailored to an individual's genetic, environmental and lifestyle characteristics. The Principal Secretary emphasized the need to strengthen national capacity in data management by training specialists to interpret complex medical data while safeguarding the security and privacy of patients' genetic information. He underscored the importance of addressing data fragmentation to facilitate the integration of precision medicine into routine clinical practice. Prof. Abdulrazak also called for sustainable financing models to support research and innovation and urged stakeholders to establish regional collaboration networks across Africa to promote knowledge exchange, resource sharing and partnerships in advancing personalized medicine. The forum also featured a compelling presentation by Ms. Prisca Githuka, Founder and Executive Director of the Pink Hearts Cancer Support Foundation and a breast cancer survivor. Sharing her lived experience, she described cancer as a journey from diagnosis through treatment, recovery or recurrence, characterized by fear, uncertainty and hope. Ms. Githuka emphasized that personalized medicine enables clinicians to better understand the biology of an individual's cancer, leading to more targeted and effective treatment. She called for a patient-centred approach that guarantees timely diagnosis, efficient referral systems, prompt access to laboratory results, financial protection against the high cost of cancer care, meaningful patient engagement and psychosocial support. She further stressed the need to strengthen laboratory and pathology capacity, noting that successful implementation of personalized cancer medicine will require strong partnerships among government, researchers, healthcare providers, patient organizations and development partners. The stakeholder consultations are continuing, with participants expected to deliberate on policy, research, financing, infrastructure, data governance and implementation pathways that will inform the development of Kenya's National Strategy on Personalized Medicine.