Horizon Magazine: INTERVIEW HEALTH with IRDiRC Chair, Dr Lucia Monaco

Dr. Lucia Monaco, Chair of IRDiRC

IRDiRC has celebrated the Rare Disease Day with the release of Dr. Lucia Monaco interview with Horizon Magazine. A precious opportunity to make a stand on where we are in rare disease research and the achievements reached so far to end the “diagnostic odyssey” thanks to the strong commitment of IRDiRC members and the constant support the EU institutions.

Q&A: ‘We can diagnose more than 4,000 rare diseases but there’s still a long way to go’

New goals have been set by IRDiRC and one is particularly catching:

Diagnosing a disease that requires the symptoms to be described in a way that another doctor using another language will be able to recognise. This is relatively simple if we all work in English in the developed world. But it is far harder in the developing world, particularly among populations that have indigenous languages. These are the most neglected of the neglected as their symptoms are not even addressed in their language.’

Dr. Lucia Monaco