Submitted by Aspergillus Administrator on 22 August 2014
Rare diseases are diseases with a particularly low prevalence; the European Union considers diseases to be rare when they affect not more than 5 per 10 000 persons in the European Union. It is estimated that between 5 000 and 8 000 distinct rare diseases exist, estimated as affecting between 6% and 8% of the population in the course of their lives. In other words, although rare diseases are characterised by low prevalence for each of them, the total number of people affected by rare diseases in the EU is estimated at between 27 and 36 million. Most of them suffer from less frequently occurring diseases affecting one in 100 000 people or less.
These patients are particularly isolated and vulnerable. The definition of a rare disease as having a prevalence of not more than 5 in 10 000 first appeared in EU legislation in Regulation (EC) N°141/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1999 on orphan medicinal products.
The Community action programme on rare diseases including genetic diseases for the period 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2003 then applied this definition to the field of public health.
Most rare diseases are genetic diseases, the others being rare cancers, auto-immune diseases, congenital
malformations, toxic and infectious diseases among other categories. Research on rare diseases has proved to be very useful to better understand the mechanism of common conditions such as obesity and diabetes, as
they often represent a model of dysfunction of a single biological pathway. However, research on rare diseases is not only scarce, but also scattered in different laboratories throughout the EU. The lack of specific health policies for rare diseases and the scarcity of expertise, translate into delayed diagnosis and difficult access to care. This results in additional physical, psychological and intellectual impairments, inadequate or even harmful treatments and loss of confidence in the health care system, despite the fact that some rare diseases are compatible with a normal life if diagnosed on time and properly managed. Misdiagnosis and non-diagnosis are the main hurdles to improving quality of life for thousands of rare disease patients.
The specificities of rare diseases, including a limited number of patients and scarcity of relevant knowledge and expertise, single them out as a distinctive domain of very high European added-value. European cooperation can help to ensure that scarce knowledge can be shared and resources combined as efficiently as possible, in order to tackle rare diseases effectively across the EU as a whole. The European Commission has already taken specific steps in many areas to address the issues of rare diseases. Building on those achievements, the Commission Communication on Europe’s Challenges in the field of Rare Diseases (11 November 2008) and the Council Recommendation on an action in the field of rare diseases (08 June 2009) aim to give a clear direction to present and future Community activities in the field of rare diseases in order to further improve the access to and equity of prevention, diagnosis and treatment for patients suffering from a rare disease throughout the European Union.
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