The Final Report in full can be downloaded from here: 

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Lymelikeillness45/Final_Report

“2.91    The committee recommends that the Australian Government increase funding for research into tick-borne pathogens as a matter of urgency. This funding should include:

  • funding for research on pathogens which may cause infection;
  • funding for research on whether newly-identified pathogens can cause illness in humans; and
  • funding for the development of diagnostic tests which can detect infection by any newly-identified pathogens endemic to Australia.”

KMF is trying to address the above recommendation without government support. Please support KMF in any way you can so we can achieve the above goals

Recommendation 3

“3.54    The committee recommends that government medical authorities, in consultation with stakeholders including the Australian Chronic Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases Society (ACIIDS) and the Karl McManus Foundation, establish a clinical trial of treatment guidelines developed by ACIIDS with the aim of determining a safe treatment protocol for patients with tick-borne illness.”

We are happy to undertake this recommendation but KMF needs funding to carry out this trial.

Recommendation 4

3.55    The committee recommends that the Australian Government allocate funding for research into medically-appropriate treatment of tick-borne disease, and that medical authorities measure the value of treatment in terms of patient recovery and return to health. The best treatment options must then be developed into clinical treatment guidelines

This recommendation can  only  occur if the previous recommendation outcomes of a trial is documented.

Recommendation 5

3.56    The committee recommends that the Australian Government Department of Health facilitate, as a matter of urgency, a summit to develop a cooperative framework which can accommodate patient and medical needs with the objective of establishing a multidisciplinary approach to addressing tick-borne illness across all jurisdictions.

KMF is happy to work with any other organization to facilitate a summit. KMF has hosted 3 international conferences in Australia on tick borne diseases.

Recommendation 9

3.60    The committee recommends that Australian medical authorities and practitioners addressing suspected tick-borne illness:

  • consistently adopt a patient-centric approach that focusses on individual patient symptoms, rather than a disease label; and
  • remove ‘chronic Lyme disease’, ‘Lyme-like illness’ and similar ‘Lyme’ phrases from diagnostic discussions.

 This recommendation must be adopted by all health practitioners and hospitals in Australia. Patient centred care  is what is being advocated by medical schools.

Recommendation 10

3.61    The committee recommends that, to help the referral of patients for guided and comprehensive pathology testing, medical practitioners work with pathologists, especially microbiologists, immunologists, chemical pathologists and hæmatologists to optimise diagnostic testing for each patient.

Recommendation 12

3.63    The committee recommends that treatment guidelines developed by Australian medical authorities emphasise the importance of a multidisciplinary, case conference approach to patient care, involving consultation between general practitioners and specialists with expertise in neurology, psychiatry, rheumatology, immunology, infectious diseases and microbiology

 KMF is advocating for the creation of multidisciplinary teams in a major hospital in each capital city  which cover both of the recommendations.

Recommendation 11

3.62    The committee recommends that the Australian Government Department of Health work closely with the Australian Medical Association and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners to ensure that general practitioners have a better understanding of how to treat patients who present with complex symptoms

 KMF has already initiated this  recommendation by hosting  tick borne diseases conferences with international speakers  presenting research outcomes.

The other recommendations cannot be undertaken before the research outcomes have identified the pathogens in Australian ticks causing illness in people.