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‘Rare diseases’ remain common in India: Government must provide push for research and screening.
Despite a national policy draft being put in place by the Central government, there’s a lack of awareness on the issue of rare diseases.
The lives of others, especially significantly famous others, evoke much curiosity. But, rare diseases are rarely discussed. This is why, despite a national policy draft having been put in place by the Central government, there’s a lack of awareness among clinicians, dependence on medicines sourced from foreign companies and no institutional push for compulsory pre-natal or new born screening. Rare diseases include inherited cancers, autoimmune disorders, congenital malformations, and infectious diseases amongst others include Hemangiomas, Hirschsprung disease, Gaucher disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophies and Lysosomal Storage Disorders. The more common ones from out of 7,000 rare diseases are Down Syndrome, muscular dystrophy, haemophilia, thalassemia and autism.