{"id":58887,"date":"2018-01-04T04:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T09:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rarediseases.org\/nord-and-the-orphan-drug-act-celebrate-35th-anniversaries\/"},"modified":"2018-01-04T04:00:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T09:00:36","slug":"nord-and-the-orphan-drug-act-celebrate-35th-anniversaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rarediseases.org\/es\/nord-and-the-orphan-drug-act-celebrate-35th-anniversaries\/","title":{"rendered":"NORD and the Orphan Drug Act Celebrate 35th Anniversaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 4th<\/sup> Marks 35 Years of Helping People with Rare Diseases and the Beginning of a New, Year-Long Education and Awareness Campaign<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"national<\/a>This year marks the 35th<\/sup> anniversaries of both the Orphan Drug Act, a law that provided incentives for the development of drugs for patients with rare diseases, and the formation of the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), the organization that is the leading advocate for patients with rare diseases.<\/p>\n

NORD today launched a year-long commemoration of the two anniversaries along with a renewal of the national commitment to medical research and programs to advance health care for the 30 million Americans with a rare disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advances in diagnosis, treatments and care for patients with rare diseases have been remarkable, but we still have many challenges ahead of us,\u201d said Peter L. Saltonstall, President and CEO of NORD.\u00a0 \u201cThe Orphan Drug Act and the creation of NORD brought national attention to rare diseases. The joint anniversaries are an appropriate time for us to recognize the progress made and rededicate ourselves to the needs of the patient community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 30 million Americans with rare diseases\u2014one-tenth of the population\u2014making it an issue that touches nearly every U.S. household in one way or another,\u201d Saltonstall added. \u201cBut of the 7,000 diseases that are defined as rare, less than 500 have an approved treatment.\u00a0 We have a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get the law passed, an ad hoc coalition of parents of children with rare diseases worked with the Congress and the medical\/pharmaceutical communities to call attention to rare diseases.\u00a0 The parents organized and gave themselves a name, the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD).\u00a0 They taught themselves how to be advocates for the desperate patients and families they represented. \u00a0When passed, the new law represented a triumph of patient advocates working with government partners, the media, and other supporters to address a critically important unmet need.<\/p>\n

Exactly four months after President Reagan signed the Orphan Drug Act into law, on May 4, 1983, the coalition of patient advocates formally established NORD as a nonprofit organization to provide advocacy, education, research and patient\/family services for all Americans affected by rare diseases.\u00a0 For the first time, people with a medical condition that had been \u201corphaned\u201d by the medical community had a home and place to connect with others.<\/p>\n

NORD’s year-long observance of the 35th<\/sup> anniversary will include a\u00a0special section on its website\u00a0with information and stories about rare disease milestones and achievements. Rare Disease Day\u00ae 2018 (Feb. 28th), which NORD sponsors nationally, will offer special activities to honor the history of the rare disease community.\u00a0 There will be additional announcements for new activities, including white papers and other publications, throughout the year.<\/p>\n

In addition, NORD will host its annual Rare Impact Awards ceremony on May 17\u00a0at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. The event will be a celebration of NORD\u2019s 35th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary, as well as the 35th <\/sup>anniversary of the Orphan Drug Act. <\/em>The event will highlight more than three decades of work to fulfill NORD\u2019s mission.
\nSaltonstall continued, \u201cThe Orphan Drug Act is just as important today as it was in 1983. This is particularly pertinent since scientific and medical momentum is spurring the development of innovative, safe, and effective treatments for children and adults with very challenging medical conditions. This year, we will be saluting the progress made to date, we will also be focusing on the fact that much remains to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

From 1967 to 1983, only 34 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were for rare diseases, and only 10 of the products brought to market by the pharmaceutical industry in the decade before 1983 would have qualified under today\u2019s Orphan Drug Act as orphan drugs. Since the Orphan Drug Act has been law, thousands more potential treatments have entered the research pipeline as orphan products, more than 600 have been approved by FDA, and one-third of all new treatments approved in recent years are to treat rare diseases.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people are alive today because of these treatments and people are able to live with their rare diseases because of the drugs that have been developed,\u201d Saltonstall said.<\/p>\n

Highlights since the Orphan Drug Act was enacted include:<\/p>\n