22
Mar
2018
Lyme: Patients and experts issue an urgent call – Media invitation
Media invitation
For immediate release
Lyme: Patients and experts issue an urgent call
On Wednesday, March 21, 2018 – The Association québécoise de la maladie de Lyme (AQML) invites the media to the hearings on the establishment and implementation of a Lyme disease action plan, taking place this Thursday, March 22, during the Commission of Health and Social Services at the National Assembly. A press conference will also be held.
“Hundreds of people are not receiving proper care from the Quebec healthcare system. Those suffering from the chronic form of this disease are completely abandoned in their suffering,” says AQML President Marguerite Glazer. According to a recent survey conducted by the Association among 200 sick Quebecers, over 90% of them do not receive the necessary care in Quebec. Additionally, half of them have lost their autonomy.
To advocate for this urgent public health situation, AQML will be joined by three highly renowned specialists:
- Prof. Christian Perronne, MD, Head of the Infectious Diseases Unit at Hôpital universitaire de Garches, Université de Versailles – Paris-Saclay, and a global expert on Lyme disease.
- Prof. Ralph Hawkins, MD, specialist in general internal medicine, Clinical Professor at the Calgary Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. He advocates for better recognition and improved diagnostic tools for Lyme disease in Canada.
- Prof. Vett Lloyd, Professor of Biology at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Principal Investigator on the biological genetics of ticks, Borrelia, and serological testing at the Mount Allison University Lyme Research Network, and head of the Lloyd Tick Lab.
Let us recall that this petition, signed by over 9,000 people, is the very first to be taken up by the Commission of Health and Social Services among the 82 petitions submitted since 2014. Among the points raised, the signatories request recognition of the urgent public health issue and the chronic form of the disease, as well as legal protection for doctors providing care outside the official protocol—similar to the United States and soon in France.
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Hearing schedule:
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. – Prof. Christian Perronne
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – AQML and the three specialists
Press conference: 2:00 p.m. – MP Sylvain Pagé, AQML, and the three specialists
Online viewing: http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/video-audio/en-direct-webdiffusion.html
Contact:
Marguerite Glazer, President of AQML
514-991-3691
media@aqml.ca
