Health in a post-pandemic EU
As this magazine goes to press, the World Health Organisation has registered just shy of seven million global deaths due to COVID-19. It also has registered over 13.5 billion doses of vaccines administered. When it comes to health, it’s truly an extraordinary period to be alive. And to stay alive, if all works out as it seems to be doing.
As this magazine goes to press, the World Health Organisation has registered just shy of seven million global deaths due to COVID-19. It also has registered over 13.5 billion doses of vaccines administered. When it comes to health, it’s truly an extraordinary period to be alive. And to stay alive, if all works out as it seems to be doing.
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HEALTH IN A POST-PANDEMIC <strong>EU</strong><br />
Rare<br />
no more?<br />
A European collaboration called Screen4Care<br />
bets on genetic test<strong>in</strong>g and new tech to speed up<br />
diagnoses for rare diseases.<br />
By GABY GALVIN<br />
For people liv<strong>in</strong>g with a rare disease, it can take at least five years to get<br />
the right diagnosis – but that timel<strong>in</strong>e could get a lot shorter if a European<br />
Union-funded effort succeeds.<br />
Rare diseases affect more than 300 million people worldwide, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g more<br />
than 30 million <strong>in</strong> Europe, and delayed diagnoses can make it harder for patients<br />
to f<strong>in</strong>d relief, given treatments are also scarce. There are more than<br />
6,000 known rare diseases worldwide, yet only 5% have at least one approved<br />
treatment.<br />
In order to be catalogued as a rare disease <strong>in</strong> the <strong>EU</strong>, the condition must affect<br />
fewer than 1 <strong>in</strong> 2,000 people. These diseases <strong>in</strong>clude forms of neurological<br />
conditions, <strong>in</strong>tellectual disabilities, some cancers, auto<strong>in</strong>flammatory diseases<br />
and other health issues, and they can be disabl<strong>in</strong>g and even life-threaten<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
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