Who are we ?
Lyme Switzerland is a non-profit association founded in 2024 by patients and for patients. Its aim is to share current knowledge on vector-borne diseases (Lyme disease, bartonellosis, babesiosis, tick-borne encephalitis, etc.) to help other sufferers better understand their condition and cope with it.
There is still a great war of opinion about vector-borne diseases, their diagnosis and management. However, it is imperative that these aspects be improved in the near future, given the constant increase in the number of cases each year and the abundant and rapidly expanding scientific literature.
What are our goals?
1. Make information accessible to patients
Most of the content on vector-borne diseases is in English and often in the form of scientific publications. As this content is not accessible to everyone, we have set ourselves the task of simplifying, condensing and translating the literature on the subject in French, German and Italian.
One of our key objectives is to empower patients to participate at all levels of decision-making regarding their diagnosis and treatment. We encourage all those affected by Lyme disease and other vector-borne infections (Bartonella, Babesia, etc.) to become advocates of change for themselves and other patients suffering from the same ailments.
2. Provide direct support to patients
The experience and sharing of other patients can sometimes be extremely helpful in the context of chronic illnesses. We offer advice by sharing our own experiences, as well as those of other patients we have encountered, with the aim of providing direct support to individuals facing a therapeutic deadlock.
3. Share information with the various Swiss medical authorities
One of our aims is to arouse the interest of the medical profession, health authorities and training institutions in new means of diagnosis and treatment for vector-borne diseases, and more specifically in the recognition of chronicity and innovative treatments.
4. Supporting people in precarious situations
Many people in precarious situations (financial, intellectual and psychological) are unable to understand the literature or afford consultations with specialist doctors. Nor do they have the financial means to pay for the latest screening tests and treatments.
Lyme Switzerland aims to set up an aid fund to provide direct support to people suffering from one or more of these vector-borne diseases, whether they have never been able to be financially independent (such as teenagers under psychiatric care) or have lost their jobs due to the many disabling symptoms resulting from these diseases.