Rare Disease Day: Buildings across the country were illuminated with colorful lights

Buildings around the world and also in Israel were illuminated tonight in green, purple and blue to raise awareness of rare diseases, for which International Awareness Day is celebrated on February 28 every year

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28/02/2022

Monday, 28 February 2022, 20:27 Updated: 20:32

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The "Coalition for Rare Diseases in Israel" today marks the International Day for Raising Awareness for Patients with Rare Diseases by illuminating sites and buildings around the country in one or three colors of the rare diseases logo: green, blue or purple.

Central organizations and local authorities joined the project this year, including the Jerusalem Municipality which illuminated the String Bridge, the Haifa Municipality which illuminated the City Hall, the Beer Sheva Municipality which illuminated the City Hall, the Tel Aviv Port which illuminated the familiar heart installation, Ichilov Hospital which illuminated Arison Tower, Soroka, the Schneider Center for Pediatrics and the Emek Medical Center, which illuminated the hospital buildings, the Netanya Municipality, which illuminated the Reserve Bridge, and the Petah Tikva Municipality and the Ramla Municipality, which illuminated their buildings.

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The String Bridge in Jerusalem is lit in purple on the occasion of Rare Illness Day (Photo: Yitzhak Horowitz)

Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva is lit with colorful lights (Photo: Dina Frenkel Soroka)

Rare diseases are serious and progressive diseases, sometimes chronic, leading to severe health conditions such as physical disability, sometimes brain injury and even death at a young age, which patients and their families have to deal with for the rest of their lives.

Today, between 8,000-10,000 rare diseases are known in the world, affecting 10-8 percent of the population.

The rarity and complexity of the rare diseases lead to low awareness of the issue among the general public but also among the medical establishment, which means: difficulty in diagnosing the disease and finding appropriate treatment, lack of caregivers and high associated expenses for the patient and family.

The heart installation in the Tel Aviv port is illuminated on the occasion of Awareness Day for Rare Diseases (Photo: Guy Yechieli)

The Haifa Municipality building is illuminated in green (Photo: Reuven Cohen, Haifa Municipality Spokeswoman)

The Coalition for Rare Diseases in Israel is an umbrella organization with over 60 associations and patient organizations, which have joined together to promote the treatment of patients with rare diseases, raise awareness of rare diseases, lead common issues such as promoting legislation and establishing medical centers specializing in treating rare diseases, and more.

Studies show that most patients with rare diseases go through about 8 doctors and 10 years until their disease is diagnosed, due to the rarity of the disease and the doctors' lack of familiarity with these diseases.

Therefore raising awareness of the issue is critical and can save lives.

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