India, Feb. 29 -- Rare Disease Day is observed on February 29

A World Economic Forum study released ahead of Rare Disease Day said only five per cent of the 475 million affected by rare diseases had access to treatment. Rare Disease Day is observed on February 29. The study - by health economists from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia - said around 80 per cent of rare diseases emerged from genetic or genomic variants.

Individuals who suffered from rare diseases were born with them. This resulted in deaths of 30 per cent of children before the age of five, according to the study published on February 26, 2020.

A global framework for the secure sharing and aggregation of genomic and clinical data was needed to d...