Priorities for Europe’s research
The European Commission called for public consultation on the 7th Research Framework Programme, in order to define European research policy from 2006 to 2010. Eurordis proposed six main strategic orientations for research that would benefit patients affected by rare diseases. The paper emphasizes collaborative research on a European level as an essential approach for rare diseases due to the large number of diseases (5,000 to 7,000 pathologies), their low prevalence (less than one in 2,000 people in Europe) and their heterogeneity (genetic or not in origin, affecting the heart, the nervous system, the skin, etc.)