PROCLAMATION from Fred Camillo, First Selectman
WHEREAS, One in every ten Americans has a rare disease and over 300 million people around the world are living with a rare disease; and
WHEREAS, There are over 7,000 identified rare diseases. Each rare disease may only affect a handful of people, scattered around the world, but collectively the number of people living with a rare disease is equivalent to the population of the world’s third largest country; and
WHEREAS, Approximately eighty percent of rare diseases are genetic whilst others are the result of infections (bacterial or viral), allergies and environmental causes or are rare cancers. Twenty-five percent of all cancers are rare and every pediatric cancer is rare. Seventy percent of genetic rare diseases start in childhood; and
WHEREAS, Rare diseases currently affect five percent of the worldwide population and are in desperate need of research, funding and patient support; and
WHEREAS, Greenwich rare disease foundations like the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation, the Golden Lights Foundation, Dana’s Angels Research Trust and others have taken a global leadership role in raising awareness for rare diseases; and
WHEREAS, Support from organizations like the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Rare As One Program and Greenwich based Stone Point Capital are now realizing cures for rare diseases are possible in our lifetime.
NOW, THEREFORE, l, Fred Camillo, FIRST SELECTMAN OF THE TOWN OF GREENWICH, do
hereby proclaim Thursday, February 24, 2022 as
Rare Disease Awareness Day
in the Town of Greenwich to help raise awareness of rare diseases and encourage our residents to recognize the impact of rare diseases on families within our community and honor those in our community whose lives are currently impacted and whose lives have been shortened by rare diseases.