Sharing better would lead to caring better

For statisticians, it’s a deeply unscientific view that sometimes the sum is larger than the parts. But when it comes to sharing health information across the Nordic countries, this saying can hold true.

The Nordics place large amounts of high-quality information on health, disease, lifestyle and income in their biobanks. But a report by NordForsk, a Nordic research funder, has lamented that Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden do not do enough to share data and samples.

The five countries have a combined population of 26 million with similar lifestyles, genetic makeup and environments. They are sitting on a “goldmine” for healthcare research, if only they would better coordinate their policies regarding biobanks, the report says.