It has been one of those weeks!

But I got a bit of a fillip with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Sir Liam Donaldson’s, annual report on Tuesday.

Apart from being a good read, the CMO’s annual address on the state of the nation’s health can give voice and momentum to an issue within the Department of Health and Government.

I well remember when at the Royal College of Physicians, how Sir Liam’s words and support  ensured the campaign to ban smoking in public places had a strong tailwind within Whitehall.  The rest is history.

So it was significant that this year, among other things, he should choose to focus on rare disorders.  You’ll recall that many of AMRC’s members represent and fund research into rare disorders and there is growing concern about the lack of attention given to their agenda (See my post in September 2009).

Sir Liam puts forward an action plan for the future including a National Clinical Director, he training of more specialists to improve service provision, greater public awareness, and measures to strengthen research. 

I couldn’t see a response posted on Rare Diseases UK’s website but it sounds like an agenda we can all rally behind.