Takeda lights up Grange Castle site to highlight Rare Diseases
TAKEDA joined the Light Up for Rare Diseases (#LightUp4RD) campaign on Monday, February 28, by illuminating their manufacturing site in Grange Castle.
The building was lit up on this year’s Rare Disease Day, an international day for raising awareness amongst the general public and decision-makers about rare diseases and their impact on patients’ lives.
A rare disease is a disease that affects less than 1 in 2,000 people and there are an estimated 300 million people worldwide living with a rare disease, including 300,000 people in Ireland.
Pharmaceutical company Takeda joined the campaign to support Rare Diseases Ireland in their efforts to create a chain of lights across Ireland, which serves as a symbolic way to break the isolation of living with a rare condition, isolation that continues into 2022 for many.
Takeda illuminated their manufacturing sites in Grange Castle and Bray, as well as their office in Miesian Plaza on Baggot Street, in Dublin, in the international colours of Rare Disease Day, to help shine a light on the isolation often experienced by those living with a rare disease.
Recent findings from Rare Diseases Ireland’s Rare Reality: Living with a Rare Disease in Ireland Healthcare Experiences survey indicate that 37% of respondents living with a rare disease spent over 5 years seeking a diagnosis.
On their journey to a diagnosis, more than half (53%) of respondents have been investigated or treated for 3 or more conditions. The report notes that a rare disease doesn’t just impact the affected individual; a rare disease has implications for everyone in the immediate family unit and the wider family too.
Paul Keogh, Site Head at Takeda Grange Castle said: “We were proud to light up our site at Grange Castle, as well as our other sites in Bray and Baggot street, in the international colours of Rare Disease Day and support in raising awareness of those living with rare diseases in Ireland and their families.
“We have a dedicated and passionate workforce who are committed to bettering the lives of those with living with a rare disease”.
