Seven years on from the Senate Inquiry, the situation for Lyme and associated diseases patients in Australia is worse than ever:

• Australian-acquired-Lyme patients are denied diagnosis and treatment. 
  
  
• Overseas-acquired-Lyme patients must be referred to an Infectious Diseases Specialist, which delays diagnosis and treatment, often by months. (Early treatment is essential for acute Lyme cases).
  
  
• Most of the Australian practitioners who were treating Lyme patients have been de-registered, leaving patients with few options for recovery.
  
  
• Lyme patients carry the financial burden of testing and treatment, since Medicare is not available.
  
  
• Emergency departments are still turning away seriously ill Lyme patients; their discharge forms reading, for example, 'hypochondriac' or 'anxiety' or 'benzo withdrawal.'
  
  
• Some Lyme patients die, either waiting for necessary treatment, being unable to afford treatment, due to misdiagnosis, or by suicide.
  
  
• There is still no public education campaign regarding tick-borne illnesses.

Help prevent unnecessary suffering.

Please SHARE this petition with everyone you know. It could save lives. 

The petition closes on 31 May 2023.