New York residents may be familiar with Rare Disease Day, a campaign effort to raise awareness regarding the affect of rare diseases on many people and their families. The Council of National Alliances and Eurordis started Rare Disease Day back in 2008 in Europe, and, as of 2015, there were 80 countries participating in the event, which occurs annually on the last day of February. While the goal of the campaign is to mainly alert the public to the dangers of rare diseases, its backers also hope to appeal to people such as doctors, researchers, policy makers and public authority figures who may be able to help advance treatments for the diseases.