FITTER | HAPPIER – Dr Gareth Baynam

A rare disease affects less than 1 in 2,000 people but with over 7,000 known rare diseases they are a lot more common than you might think, affecting approximately 2 million people in Australia.

Most rare diseases start in childhood and are very complex and debilitating. We know that there are more than 60,000 young people in WA alone who are living with a rare disease.

At Perth Children’s Hospital, the Rare Care Centre helps kids to navigate sectors like Health, Education, NDIS and social services to make sure they don’t fall through the gaps in the systems.

 Dr Gareth Baynam, medical director of the centre and clinical geneticist, chats with Pam Boland.