Major national health project coming to Hastings - here's what it means and full details on how to take part

Our Future Health, in partnership with the NHS, aims to be the UK’s largest ever health research programme.

Organisers said it is designed to help everyone ‘live longer and healthier lives through the discovery and testing of more effective approaches to prevention, earlier detection, and treatment of diseases’.

The project aims to sign up five million people by 2028. Just over two million have done so far as of today (Monday, January 6).

Those over the age of 18 and living in the UK can take part, organisers said.

Participants provide a blood sample and have some basic measurements taken at a local clinic, as well as completing a health and lifestyle questionnaire.

Organisers of Our Future Health the blood sample and information will be combined with data from other volunteers and stored securely. Researchers will then apply to study the de-identified data to help make new discoveries about human health and diseases, they added.

A spokesperson said: “Currently, despite advances in healthcare and medicine, large numbers of people in the UK still spend many years of their later life in poor health. Research suggests that currently 54 per cent of people aged 65 or older live with two or more serious health conditions. By 2035, that figure is expected to rise to 68 per cent.

“Many of these conditions are common diseases, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and stroke. Health systems focus on treating them once they show symptoms. However, diseases often start in the body long before symptoms are detectable. It is a costly approach that leads to worse health outcomes.

“With Our Future Health, researchers can analyse data that helps them to identify more effective ways of tackling diseases. For example, they might discover a new test that detects cancer at an early stage, when it is easier to treat.

“Our aim is to recruit up to five million adult volunteers from across the UK, to help researchers discover new ways to prevent, detect and treat diseases.

“We ask our volunteers for permission to combine the information and samples that they give us with existing information about them, including their health records. Adding these additional types of information helps to build a more comprehensive picture of health and wellbeing that could be relevant to understanding what changes people’s risk of disease.

“We will use the health information, including genetic data, to calculate disease risk scores for people taking part in Our Future Health where possible. Based on these risk profiles, it might be possible to better target individuals who are at higher risk of developing certain diseases.

“This will provide an opportunity to test the potential of new diagnostic tests or treatments as they are discovered and to see how effective they could be for people at higher risk of certain diseases. This will also mean Our Future Health can help researchers explore important questions about the potential uses of new genetic risk scores in health care.”

The mobile clinic is at Pelham Place car park from Tuesday (January 6) until February 7.

Visit ourfuturehealth.org.uk for more information.