The Whitworth Group

“RARE” aims to trigger conversations and debates across society about the implications of developments in rare conditions and genomic medicine.

How do you see rare?

A rare condition is one that affects less than 1 in 2,000 people. There are over 6,000 different types of rare disease and around 80% have a genetic origin.

Despite being described as rare, around 3 million people in the UK are affected by a rare disease, and 1 in 17 will have one at some point in their lives.

So actually, whilst one particular rare disease is individually rare, collectively they’re pretty common.