What’s the difference between “Rare Diseases” and “Neglected Diseases”?

"Rare diseases" are medical conditions that affect a small percentage of the population, typically defined as fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. or 1 in 2,000 in the EU. They are often genetic, chronic, and lack widespread research or treatments due to limited commercial incentives. In contrast, “neglected diseases” primarily affect impoverished populations in developing countries and receive little attention from pharmaceutical companies and researchers because they are not seen as profitable. These diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and Chagas disease, often have a high burden of morbidity and mortality, and often impact very large numbers of people, but lack sufficient funding for drug development and public health initiatives.

What is a DALY?

In the field of public health, “DALY” — short for “Disability Adjusted Life Year” — is a metric to quantify the burden of disease – both from years of life lost due to premature death, and years lived with disability. One DALY equals one lost year of healthy life.

Where did the name DALYA come from?

Our goal is to avert DALYs (*see prior question/answer) - hence the name DALYA, for “DALYS-Averted”.