Croatia’s first Rare Disease Day celebration was in 2009, when patient representatives paid a visit to the President. Since then, support has continued to grow each year, and the event is now backed by the First Lady of Croatia and is used to mobilise policy makers and the general public.
2018 is the third year of the ‘Hug for Rare’ campaign. This campaign was initiated in 2016 by the Croatian National Alliance for Rare Disease in collaboration with others as an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest online photo album of hugs. In 2018 the campaign travelled to 20 cities in 20 days, gathering even more photos of hugs to show support for people with rare diseases and their families! 2018 also saw discussions in parliament on access to expensive medicines.
You can also get involved! Do you know of any events not listed here? Email us at [email protected].