Rare Disease Day takes place on the last day of February each year - the rarest day of the year. The purpose of Rare Disease Day is to raise awareness about rare diseases and the impact of the disease on patients’ lives. It is also a time to encourage researchers and decision-makers to address the needs and rights of individuals that live with rare diseases. 

In the United States, a disease is considered rare if fewer than 200,000 people are diagnosed with the same disease. There are over 7000 diseases that are considered rare. Even though there are very few patients with any one rare disease, collectively rare diseases impact many people. Rare diseases affect between 3% to 6% of the world’s population, which means over 300 million people are living with a rare disease.  Patients with rare diseases may face many challenges including finding reliable consumer health information.

The Health and Wellness Library located on the ground floor of the VCU Health Gateway building provides patients, their family members, and community members with free, reliable consumer health information about rare diseases. You can also join us for a Rare Disease Day event - Finding Rare Disease Information via Zoom on Wednesday, February 24 at noon. To learn more or to register for the program, please visit: https://vcu.libcal.com/event/7548029

For more information about rare diseases or other health conditions, visit us on the ground floor of the VCU Health Gateway Building in room G-112, or follow us on Facebook.