Welcome to the Genetic Counselling Society Malaysia inaugural webpage.  In this era of unprecedented advances in the use of genetics in healthcare, there is vast improvement in diagnostics and precision treatment across a spectrum of diseases but with new opportunities, comes new challenges.

The need for genetic counselling has increased exponentially and role of genetic counsellors to manage emerging counselling issues is evolving. In Malaysia, the use of genetic testing in diagnosis and treatment is following the trends as seen in many other developed countries and it is timely that the various healthcare professionals such as the genetic counsellors and clinical geneticists come together to lead and guide the provision of genetic counselling in the country.

On a more granular level, GCSM acknowledges that there is a great need to have more genetics counsellor in the country. These counsellors are expected to be in high demand in the oncoming years because of the new breadth and depth of analyses thanks to the advancement in research, resource and technology. To that end, GCSM aims to lead in developing national best practice policy statements, the setting up of an effective certification process in partnership with the Ministry of Health and partner organisations and to provide a platform for education and awareness of genetic counselling and genetic diseases.

This year will be an exciting year for GCSM as we plan for the launch of the society followed by a Pre-Conference Genetic Counselling Workshop in collaboration with the Clinical Genetics Conference by University Malaya Medical Centre and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. We envisage working closely with many other genetic disease related organisations to maximise our potential together for the benefit of patients and family members in Malaysia.