ZAGREB, February 24, 2018 – The Croatian capital of Zagreb on Saturday joined in marking the Rare Disease Day, which is observed on the last day of February each year to raise awareness among the general public and decision-makers about rare diseases and their impact on patients’ lives.
Throughout February, activists of the national federation for rare diseases toured 19 towns and passed over 2,000 kilometres through the country to help raise the awareness about rare diseases. Their last destination in this campaign was Zagreb. The campaign ends on 28 February when findings of a survey about the living standards of patients suffering from rear diseases will be presented.
Rare diseases are those that affect fewer than five people per 10,000 inhabitants. They often appear in childhood because in most cases they are genetically determined, and they put a heavy burden on patients and their family because of problems in diagnosing such diseases and in seeking adequate therapy. In Europe, 6-8% of the population suffer from rare diseases. If diagnosed on time, many rare diseases can be successfully treated and controlled.
In Croatia, there have been some 400 rear diseases diagnosed so far. In 2015, the government earmarked 360 million kuna (approximately 47 million euro) for the establishment of a register of Croatians diagnosed with rare diseases and for improving the provision of the necessary medicaments for the treatment of those diseases, as well as for the social inclusion of such patients.
