RARE DISEASE DAY

 𝗥𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬

𝟸𝟾𝚃𝙷 𝙵𝙴𝙱𝚁𝚄𝙰𝚁𝚈

🅃🄷🄴🄼🄴: 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀

On February 29th in a leap year, the first Rare Disease Day was observed. This is a rare day as it occurs only after four years. Since then, Rare Disease Day has always fallen on the last day of February, a month with a rare number of days. This day aims to bring patients with rare health conditions together and foster a community where knowledge of their rare condition and treatment are discussed. The purpose of the day is to increase clinical suspicion, promote awareness, and better access to care for people with rare diseases and support systems for their families. Both the medical treatment for many rare diseases and the social networks that assist those who have them and their families fall short.

It is an appeal to medical professionals, governments, and other world leaders to end the stigma associated with people who have rare illnesses and to work together to improve research opportunities and develop treatment protocols. All diseases have the potential to cause patients great pain, but rare diseases present more challenges than common disorders. The dissatisfaction that accompanies it has an emotional impact on the patient and caregivers as well. Furthermore, due to the very rare nature of the disease, the treating medical staff frequently misdiagnoses the patients because their symptoms overlap with those of more common illnesses.

Photo credit: Freepik