ERN-RITA brings together the leading European centres with expertise in diagnosis and treatment of rare primary immunodeficiency, autoimmune and autoinflammatory disorders, setting the stage for high standards of clinical care throughout Europe enabling centres of excellence to drive forward this pan-European initiative. Our network combines concerted efforts to improve patient care across Europe, and in particular enables patients in less well served countries to have access to the same high standards of care. Rare immunological disorders are life-threatening conditions requiring multidisciplinary care using complex diagnostic evaluation and highly specialised cutting edge therapies. The constituent groups brought together in RITA provide an exemplar of what has and can be achieved with rare diseases over time. Our groups from across Europe have already clearly demonstrated the ability to work together for the benefit of patients by constructing registries, surveying treatments and outcomes, conducting clinical research and devising guidelines for best practice which have been shown to improve outcomes. With the creation of our network we provide an opportunity for these excellent initiatives to be shared equitably all over Europe, as RITA will harmonize diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines and thus provide a common shared medical platform for all affected patients, independent of national and ethnic origins. The RITA network aims at harmonizing diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for all affected patients, independent of national and ethnic origins, resulting in access to diagnostic tests and therapies such as biologic therapies, Immunoglobulin replacement, stem cell transplantation, and gene therapy. RITA members believe that, by improving understanding and awareness, diagnosis of these diseases, facilitating advances in treatment and educating physicians about these diseases, will ensure that every patient will benefit from clinical and scientific knowledge.
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EURO-NMD is a European Reference Network for the thematic grouping of rare neuromuscular diseases (NMDs), a broad
group of related disorders that represent a major cause of mortality and lifelong disability in children and adults. NMDs are
caused by acquired or genetic defects of motorneurons, peripheral nerves, neuromuscular junctions or skeletal muscle,
resulting in muscle weakness and wasting, swallowing and breathing difficulties, and cardiac failure. NMDs are difficult to
recognize, and patients experience long delays in diagnosis. No curative treatments yet exist for any NMD and their rarity
and diversity pose specific challenges for healthcare and research, and for the development and marketing of therapies.
NMDs collectively affect an estimated 500,000 EU citizens and result in significant costs for families and the healthcare
system. EURO-NMD unites 61 of Europe’s leading NMD clinical and research centres in 14 Member States and includes
highly active patient organizations. More than 100,000 NMD patients are seen annually by the ERN. The network addresses
harmonizing and implementing standards for clinical and diagnostic best practice, improving equity of care provision across
Member States, decreasing time to diagnosis, increasing cost efficiency through better care pathways, access to specialist
training and education, application of eHealth services, development and application of care guidelines, facilitating
translational and clinical research, harmonising data and samples for research reuse, and sharing of high-quality data.
EURO-NMD partners will form the backbone for national implementation of best practice NMD care and will form trusted
partnerships with payers, national health systems and RD national plans. Ultimately, EURO-NMD will improve health
outcomes in NMD patients across Europe, provide new opportunities for translational research, and reduce the burden of
these chronic disabling conditions for families and healthcare systems in Europe.
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