February 29, 2012 marks the fifth international Rare Disease Day coordinated by EURORDIS and organised with rare disease national alliances in 25 European countries. On this day hundreds of patient organisations from more than 40 countries worldwide are organsing awareness-raising activities converging around the slogan “Rare but strong together”.
The main objective of Rare Disease Day is to raise awareness amongst the general public and decision-makers about rare diseases and their impact on patients’ lives.
The campaign targets primarily the general public but it is also designed for patients and patient representatives, as well as politicians, public authorities, policy-makers, industry representatives, researchers, health professionals and anyone who has a genuine interest in rare diseases.
Background information
A disease or disorder is defined as rare in Europe when it affects fewer than 1 in 2000 people. One rare disease may affect only a handful of patients in the EU, and another touch as many as 245,000. In the EU, as many as 30 million people alone may be affected by one of the 6000 to 8000 existing rare diseases.
80% of rare diseases have identified genetic origins whilst others are the result of infections (bacterial or viral), allergies and environmental causes, or are degenerative and proliferative
