Rare Disease Day
Rare Disease Day is to raise awareness amongst the general public and decision makers about rare diseases and their impact on patients' lives.
CORD Rare Disease Day Summit 2024
Date: February 28, 2024 (8:30am EST) - Feb 29, 2024 (4:30pm EST)
Location:
Ottawa Marriott, 100 Kent Street, Ottawa View Map
Rare Disease Day takes place on the last day of February each year.
The main objective of Rare Disease Day is to raise awareness amongst the general public and decision-makers about rare diseases and their impact on patients' lives.
The campaign targets primarily the general public and also seeks to raise awareness amongst policy makers, public authorities, industry representatives, researchers, health professionals and anyone who has a genuine interest in rare diseases.
Since Rare Disease Day was first launched by EURORDIS and its Council of National Alliances in 2008, thousands of events have taken place throughout the world reaching hundreds of thousands of people and resulting in a great deal of media coverage.
The political momentum resulting from Rare Disease Day also serves advocacy purposes. It has notably contributed to the advancement of national plans and policies for rare diseases in a number of countries.
Even though the campaign started as a European event, it has progressively become a world phenomenon, with the USA joining in 2009, and participation in a record-breaking 87 countries around the world in 2015. We hope many more will join in 2016. Some countries have decided to raise rare disease awareness further, for example, Spain declared 2013 as the National Year for Rare Diseases.
Our objective is for the World Health Organization to recognise the last day of February as the official Rare Disease Day and to raise increasing awareness for Rare Diseases worldwide.
Past Events
Date: February 28 – 29, 2024
Location: Ottawa Marriott, 100 Kent Street, Ottawa
Rare Disease Day Conference & Cocktail Reception
March 28 – 29, 2023
Ottawa Marriott, 100 Kent Street, Ottawa
Conference Outline Slides/Videos
Rare Disease Day 2023 Breakfast Reception at Queen’s Park
Monuments being lit up in Canada on Feb 28, 2023, in honour of Rare Disease Day are:
- Calgary Tower
- Toronto CN Tower
- Niagara Falls
- Edmonton High Level Bridge
Rare Disease Day Webinar, Feb 24, 2022
Monuments being lit up in Canada on Feb 28, 2022, in honour of Rare Disease Day are:
- Brampton Clock Tower
- Burlington Brant Street Pier
- Calgary Tower
- Toronto CN Tower
- Welland Bridge
- Winnipeg Sign by the Forks
Rare Disease Day 2021 Conference, March 9 -10, 2021
Final Agenda Video Day 1 Video Day 2
Light up a Monument
Monuments being lit up in Canada on Feb 28, 2021, in honour of Rare Disease Day are:
- BC place stadium and Olympic Cauldron
- Calgary Tower
- Toronto CN Tower
- Edmonton High Level Bridge
Tag us on social media @raredisorders with your photos of the monuments.
MPP Breakfast at Queen’s Park, March 4, 2020 (Queen’s Park, Toronto)
Rare Disease Day 2020 Conference, March 9 -10, 2020 (Delta Hotels Ottawa City Centre)
Agenda Speaker Bios Conference Slides
Annual Rare Disease Day Gala, March 9 (Delta Hotels Ottawa City Centre)
Awards Gala, May 10, 2019 (Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel)
MPP Breakfast at Queen’s Park, February 28, 2019 (Queen’s Park, Toronto)
Rare Disease Day At Parliament Hill, March 28, 2019 (Parliament Hill, Ottawa)
Action Day At Parliament Hill, March 20, 2018 (Parliament Hill, Ottawa)
Rare Disease Day Conference
Date: March 21 – 22, 2018
Location: Delta Hotels Ottawa City Centre
Final Agenda Conference Photo Album Part 1 Conference Photo Album Part 2
Awards Gala, March 21, 2018 (Delta Hotels Ottawa City Centre)
Rare Disease Day Gala 2018 Photo Album
MPP Breakfast at Queen’s Park
Date: February 28, 2018
Location: Queen’s Park, Toronto
Conference: March 30 – 31, 2017
Final Agenda Conference Slides
Awards Gala: March 30, 2017 (Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre)
Rare Disease Day Gala 2017 Photo Album
Wake UP TO Rare Disease Day in Ontario!
Date: February 28, 2017
Location: Queen’s Park, Toronto
Conference: March 9 – 10, 2016
Location: Ottawa Sheraton
Gala: March 10, 2016 (Sheraton Ottawa)
Rare Disease Day Gala 2016 Photo Album
We are pleased to confirm that the CN Tower will be lit Light Blue on February 28, 2016 in recognition of International Rare Disease Day.
Conference: Strategy, Research Updates, Training
March 5 – 7, 2015, Toronto, Ontario
Rarity Awards Dinner Gala: Honourary Gala Chair and Keynote Speaker, The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Industry