The international day of action, which takes place annually on the last day of February, aims to raise awareness of rare diseases and mobilize urgently needed support for those affected.
As darkness fell, Marburg Town Hall was illuminated in blue, green, and magenta, the colors of the day of action. The impressive illumination sent out a symbol of hope for those affected by rare diseases and visibly emphasized the importance of research and development of new therapeutic approaches for these often-overlooked diseases.
The annual awareness day is supported by patient organizations. Everyone was invited to take part: patients, researchers, companies, political stakeholders, family members and the general public.
"Among other things, CSL researches novel treatment methods for rare diseases in Marburg and always places the focus on patients in its values. As a company with a long tradition, it was therefore only natural for us to raise awareness of rare diseases again this year with this campaign," said Dr. Niklas Schier, who has headed the Marburg site since the beginning of the year.
"The time it takes for many sufferers to be correctly diagnosed is often long. Sometimes it takes years before they know what is wrong with them and how they can be treated. Rare Disease Day and this illumination are intended to show them in a clearly visible way that we stand by those affected and do not leave them alone - and that research is ongoing to help them," said Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Spies on the sidelines of the campaign.
However, patients are not alone in their experiences. Even if their specific disease only occurs once in 50,000 people, there are still quite a lot of people affected by different rare diseases: According to estimates by the Federal Ministry of Health, there are around 4 million patients living with a rare disease in Germany, and around 30 million across the EU.
Further information about Rare Disease Day and rare diseases in general can be found here:
https://www.rarediseaseday.org
Marburg city hall shines for rare diseases
In a strong gesture of solidarity and commitment to patients around the world, CSL Behring has illuminated the City Hall of Marburg in colored light to mark Rare Disease Day.
