Everything You Need to Know About the Rare Disease Day
Although it hasn’t been long since it started to be celebrated, rare disease day is already serving its purpose. It is an initiative to help direct attention to different rare diseases. It’s an annual occasion with the last day of February marked as the date.
What Do you Mean By Rare Diseases?
Rare diseases are diseases that affect only a small number of people in comparison to the general population. There can also be some specific issues of a disease that are raised directly in relation to their rarity.
Different regions have different parameters to consider a disease to be rare. In Europe, a rare disease is labelled when a condition affects only one among 2000 people.
What’s the Purpose of Rare Disease Day?
The world’s population suffers from more than 7,000 known rare diseases. It’s also quite common for a disease to be rare in one particular area and common in another.
Due to their rarity, these diseases often get ignored by policymakers, researchers, medics, and other authorized bodies. Eventually, it results in a lack of access to viable medication or treatment.
This where the purpose of the rare disease day lies. It aims to raise awareness and encourage dialogues and discussions among the policymakers by bringing attention to the millions of people suffering from different rare diseases and their carers.
Hopefully, these concentrated dialogues would also raise awareness among the general population so that they can suspect and accept any such conditions. It can also be greatly beneficial to make treatment and medication accessible where they are needed.
The Colour of the Rare Disease Day
The Blue Denim Genes Ribbon is the symbol of the rare disease day. For 7,000 rare disease communities, it is a symbol of hope, a symbol of belongingness. So, don’t forget to wear your denim ribbon and show that you care for the rare.
