Rare Disease Day was created by EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe and its Council of National Alliances in 2008, and it has grown steadily in momentum ever since!
Each year EURORDIS coordinates Rare Disease Day at the international level, as well as with the National Alliances, patient organisations and other groups at the national and local levels.
European-level institutions, including the European Medicines Agency and the European Commission, lend their support to the day by displaying the Rare Disease Day logo on their websites.
To mark the occasion of Rare Disease Day 2018, EURORDIS held or supported the organisation of several events at the European level: the EURORDIS Black Pearl Awards, a meeting of the EURORDIS Round Table Companies, the opening of a ‘Rare Lives’ photography exhibition at the European Parliament and a meeting on European Reference Networks, also held at the European Parliament.