Rare Disease Policies in Asia-Pacific

Worldwide about 300 million people are suffering with one of the 6000+ identified rare diseases. Diagnosis, treatment & perception of patients & their families/caregivers & society as a whole towards these patients remain a huge challenge. While some countries have made decent progress in the area with medical advances, treatment access, policies & support for rare disease patients, other countries, especially those in Asia, are still trying to catch up to their Western counterparts. In this report, we have attempted to gather the policy changes & progress made by Asian countries in the area of rare disease over the last decade. Our research brings into focus, the challenges faced by rare disease patients in getting diagnosis & treatment & also hurdles faced by the Pharma industry in their R&D journey of bringing the best-in-class treatments to market. The report also highlights the need for collaboration between different stakeholders for the betterment of the patients.