World Rare Disease Day: Spotlight on Scleroderma and the Launch of ScleroNet Project

On the occasion of the World Day of Rare Diseases, scleroderma is also discussed, an autoimmune and systemic disease that affects about 25,000 people in Italy (mainly women, with 1,000 diagnoses every 12 months), with an estimated incidence between 4 and 20 new cases per million inhabitants per year and a prevalence that varies from 30 to 450 cases per million. The Italian group fighting scleroderma (Gils Odv Ets) led by Paola Canziani presents the ScleroNet project: "Our goal is to spread information about scleroderma and facilitate access to treatments as much as possible," she explains. In particular, the ScleroNet project represents an active reality in the metropolitan city of Milan: it involves Ircss and territorial hospital companies, aiming to create an integrated network of professionals dedicated to the prevention and treatment of systemic sclerosis; the rare and chronic disease indeed requires a multidisciplinary approach. Marco Vicenzi, Unimi and Irccs Ca' Granda Ospedale Policlinico di Milano, highlights the importance of the initiative which "also opens new ways for the understanding and treatment of the disease," and has already led to the creation of OsservaMi, the registry that provides a complete picture of the pathology and its clinical implications, and represents an additional tool for doctors and researchers. GILS ODV ETS invites media representatives, medical professionals, and the interested public to participate in the presentation event of ScleroNet, a unique opportunity to closely learn about the initiatives and progress made in the fight against scleroderma.