Message from ICORD’s Executive Board for the Celebration of Rare Diseases Day Feb 28, 2021

ICORD joins with more than 300 million people, their families, and caregivers worldwide in the celebration of Rare Disease Day. The members of ICORD share the patient-centered approaches adopted by the rare diseases community to provide useful information about rare diseases, timely and correct diagnosis of more than 7000 rare diseases, and equal global access to innovative drugs, biological products, and medical devices for patients in all countries. These products and services, when made available to all regardless of socio-economic status, will lead to an improvement in care and the quality of life with full personal integration into all aspects of society to maximize the human potential of individuals throughout their lifespan.

We are forever grateful for the dedicated efforts, personnel, and financial resources provided by patients, families, patient advocacy groups, health care providers, academic research investigators, research and regulatory agency scientists, the biopharmaceutical, medical devices, and diagnostics industry, national government policy officials, and elected representatives who have contributed to approval of more than 925 uses of orphan products worldwide.  The path to an approved orphan product is extremely difficult. The continued work of the rare diseases community to meet the needs of patients with rare diseases is highlighted particularly on Rare Disease Day on February 28 in many countries. ICORD continues to foster and inspire global collaboration among all rare disease stakeholders.