Action on rare diseases
The European Commission has recently published a call for proposals for action on rare diseases from 1999 to 2000. The call, part of the Commission's four year (1999 to 2003) programme in this area covers four actions. These are: - Action 1: Promotion and development of and access to a coherent and complementary European information network on rare diseases; - Action 2: Contribution to training and refresher courses for professionals in order to improve early detection, recognition, intervention and prevention in the field of rare diseases; - Promotion of trans-national collaboration and networking between groups of persons directly or indirectly affected by the same rare conditions or volunteers and professionals involved and coordination at Community level in order to encourage continuity of work and trans-national cooperation; - Community level support of the monitoring of rare diseases in the Member States and early warning systems for clusters, and promotion of the networking and training of experts concerned with the handling of rare diseases and worth rapid response to the phenomenon of clusters. Only projects that contribute to one of these four actions will be considered for financial support. Approximately 1.3 million euros will be made available to fund projects under this call. For further information, please contact: European Commission Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General 'Rare Diseases' Programme Unit F.4 - Communicable, rare and emerging diseases Plateau du Kirchberg (EUFO 3270) L-2920 Luxembourg