World Patient Safety Day 2026 focuses on safe care for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) under the slogan “Safe care for life!”
NCDs—including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases—account for 74% of deaths worldwide and often require treatment and monitoring throughout life.
Globally, one in ten patients’ experiences harm during health care, with approximately half considered preventable. People with NCDs can be particularly vulnerable because they may take several medicines, undergo complex procedures and move between multiple professionals and care settings over many years. In cancer care, as many as one in three patients experiences an adverse event.
Genomics can contribute to safer care through better diagnosis, more accurate risk assessment, and more targeted treatment.
Pharmacogenomics (PGx)—the study of how genetic variation influences an individual’s response to medicines—is especially relevant. Genetic differences can affect whether a medicine works, produces little benefit, or causes serious adverse effects. When supported by validated testing and evidence-based guidance, pre-emptive pharmacogenomic testing can help prescribers choose an appropriate medicine, adjust its dose, or strengthen monitoring.
This is already relevant to NCD treatment. CYP2C19 testing can inform the selection of antiplatelet therapy for some patients who might otherwise receive limited benefit from clopidogrel. In cancer care, DPYD testing is routinely performed to identify an increased risk of severe or potentially fatal toxicity from fluoropyrimidines such as capecitabine and 5-fluorouracil, enabling treatment to be adapted for affected individuals. Crucially, results of pharmacogenomic testing, when stored and shared appropriately, can potentially be used to inform multiple prescribing events, supporting safe care for life.
The recently published Royal College of Pharmacy (RCPharm) resource, A Pharmacogenomic Resource to Support the Competency Framework for all Prescribers. provides timely practical support. Published in March 2026 with support from the NHS England Genomics Programme, it is designed for prescribers from every professional background and at all stages of their careers.
The resource translates PGx principles into the established responsibilities of safe prescribing. Prescribers recognise when testing may be relevant, understand its benefits and limitations, interpret validated results, communicate genetic information clearly, make shared decisions, and document and transfer results safely across care settings. It also considers consent, privacy, clinical governance, and professional accountability.
Importantly, its supporting resources and case studies demonstrate how PGx can inform real-world decisions involving clopidogrel and CYP2C19, capecitabine and DPYD, codeine and CYP2D6, gentamicin and MT-RNR1, and carbamazepine and HLA variants. These examples connect scientific knowledge with practical patient-safety behaviours, including checking previous results, explaining limitations, involving patients, recording decisions, and maintaining continuity of care.
PGx testing does not replace clinical judgement, medication review, or ongoing monitoring. Results must be considered as part of holistic patient care, including alongside factors such as age, kidney and liver function, other medicines, and patient preferences
The RCPharm resources provide a practical foundation for turning genomic advances into safer everyday prescribing. By building professional competence and involving patients as partners, pharmacogenomics can help reduce avoidable medicine-related harm and advance the central promise of World Patient Safety Day 2026: Safe care for every person, at every stage of treatment and throughout life.