Schweizerische Gesellschaft für ME & CFS

The Schweizerische Gesellschaft für ME &amp; CFS (Swiss Association for ME & CFS) is a non-profit organisation. It was founded in 2019 and is located in Zurich, Switzerland. The Swiss Association is run by dedicated volunteers.

Aims
The Swiss Association is committed to ensuring that ME is recognised as a physical illness in Switzerland and that adequate medical, nursing and social care can be guaranteed for those affected. They aim to educate both the general population and health professionals about ME and CFS, inform them about international scientific and health policy news concerning ME and CFS, and create awareness for the currently still very difficult situation of those affected.

Events
The association started as a loose collective of patients and caregivers who organised a screening of Unrest in Bern and one in Zurich in 2018.

Notable projects
The association provides the International Consensus Criteria as an online questionnaire. Whether the criteria (minimum number of symptoms per category) are met is calculated automatically and the results can be downloaded in a report and brought to the doctor to facilitate diagnosis. The questionnaire is currently available in German and English. Further languages are planned.

Every two years, the association carries out a comprehensive data collection on the situation of ME patients in Switzerland in the areas of medical care, livelihood and coping with everyday life as well as personal social situation. The first analysis was published in 2021. The next publication is planned for 2023.

Media reports

 * June 2019, annabelle: "Ich brenne für das Leben"
 * December 2019, Tsüri: "Die Krankheit, die niemand kennt"
 * February 2020, Tages-Anzeiger: "Sie ist gefangen in ihrer eigenen Wohnung"

Videos

 * May 2018, Interview with Dr. David Tuller by Chairman Jonas Sagelsdorff at the Unrest screening in Bern

Online presence

 * Website
 * Facebook
 * Instagram
 * Newsletter