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Rare Disease Day 28 Feb 2025 – Theme and Importance

Rare Disease Day is a worldwide healthcare event, typically observed either on the last day of February or near the last day of February each year, intending to bring together the patients suffering from rare diseases and create a community in which awareness of their rarity profile, their condition, their diagnosis and their treatment are discussed. This year 2025, World Rare Disease Day is observed on 28 February, Friday.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the basis of a rare disease can be identified with its epidemiology. The frequency of any rare disease should be less than 6.5-10 per 10,000 people.

An Indian non-profit company, Organization for Rare Diseases India (ORDI), is set up to provide a collective voice for all Indian patients with rare diseases. Given India's enormous population, ORDI considers an illness rare if it affects one in every 5,000 Indians or less. ORDI has listed 263 rare diseases in India. The first 10 of them are: 

Acanthocytosis Chorea - A neurological disorder that affects movement in many parts of the body).

Achalasia Cardia - A rare disorder that makes it difficult for food and liquid to pass from the swallowing tube connecting your mouth and stomach (oesophagus).

Acromesomelic Dysplasia – An inherited, skeletal disorder of short stature known as short-limb dwarfism. 

Acute Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (AIDP) – A general classification of pathologies affecting the nervous system. 

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia – Blood cancer, especially the white blood cells. 

Addison's Disease (adrenal insufficiency) - The adrenal glands in the body don't make enough of certain cortisol and aldosterone hormones. 

Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) - A genetic condition damaging the myelin sheath (membrane) that covers nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. 

Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy - An autoimmune disease of the peripheral nervous system, recognised over a century ago. 

Alagille syndrome - An inherited condition of bile that builds up in the liver.

Alkaptonuria (black urine disease) - an inherited condition of impaired protein breakdown resulting in the build-up of homogentisic acid. 

Rare Disease Day 28 Feb 2025