The German non-governmental organisation Care-for-Rare Foundation for Children with Rare Diseases and the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital (the teaching hospital of Chulalongkorn University) in Thailand are establishing a competence centre in Bangkok for rare immune disorders that affords doctors and researchers from the entire South-East Asian region better access to modern expertise and thus improves diagnostics and care for children with rare diseases.\r
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Background: \r
If children with rare immune disorders are to receive a proper diagnosis and suitable treatment, then doctors and researchers must engage in continuing professional development and have access to internationally available information, networks and methods. \r
Thailand currently has just five experts in rare immune disorders and it takes around seven years for children with rare illnesses to receive a correct diagnosis. \r
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Activities:\r\n˗\tThree- to six-month scholarships for researchers and doctors at the Dr von Hauner Children's Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and at the new competence centre in Bangkok\r\n˗\tTraining for interdisciplinary experts from the ASEAN region through presentations by international experts, workshops, attendance of international conferences, etc. \r\n˗\tProcurement of lab equipment, including for gene sequencing \r
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Impact: \r
If the project helps to increase the number of experts in rare immune disorders in the region, then the time taken for patients in Thailand to receive a correct diagnosis could be reduced from around seven years to one year on average.