The focus also should extend to macro-economic issues of employment and productivity, infrastructure creation, the growth of the services sector, and international trade. Genetic literacy and counselling. Neither the public nor healthcare professionals are fully aware of the new products available now, and the counselling essential to appropriate uptake is scanty at best. All stakeholders should examine collaborative arrangements to provide continuing medical education for healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses and genetic counsellors. Given the growing importance of the latter, government and industry scholarships should be considered seriously to expand genetic literacy and encourage counselling in many countries.
Regulation has both positive and negative consequences.
Now is the time to begin a new process that forecasts possible problems and develops reasonable, cost effective approaches that satisfy not only governments and the pharmaceutical industry, but also the needs of the public. Given the interdependency of today's world, sustainable solutions must involve not only national governments, but also regional and international organisations. Voluntary guidelines and self-policing. By developing sets of voluntary guidelines and mechanisms for sanctions against serious infractions, healthcare professionals and the industry can demonstrate their commitment to upholding the principles of good science and ethics. Such conventions can be useful not only in the short term but also in providing a basis on which regulation can be crafted.