The Balkan database of rare diseases, which is a regional project involving Croatia, Republika Srpska, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia, has started operating, and apart from search engines for the information on rare diseases, it includes forums for both patients and doctors, which will be their refuge, Project Coordinator Bojana Mirosavljevic said for RTS.

Over six thousand rare diseases are known in the world. It is assumed that a total of about 450 thousand citizens have some rare disease in Serbia. The inclusion of Serbia in the Balkan database of rare diseases should help the sick get the necessary information, diagnostics and therapy faster.

"During our fight, we found out that a large number of patients and doctors was not sufficiently familiar with English to use it for medical purposes, while the only information on rare diseases is in English and is available on the European Orfanet portal",  Ms. Mirosavljevic says.

She also says that information on more than 4,000 rare diseases has been translated into Serbian and is in the database, RTS reports.

“What is important, apart from searching for the information on these diseases, is that there are forums for patients and closed forums for doctors, which will be their refuge. Networking of patients, but also of doctors, is important to us ", says the Project Coordinator.

The database is available on retkebolesti.com, while Bojana Mirosavljevic underscores that this is the beginning of the project, that it is not yet completed, and that it is an excellent basis for improving the position of patients.

Source: Jugmedia and Coordination Body