What the Worldwide Lyme Protest is all About

In 2013 several countries from around the world came together to start the Worldwide Lyme Protest. It started with a couple Skandinavian countries doing protests on the same weekend. Then a women, Charlotte Therese Björnström from Sweden made a Facebook Event for it calling for activists from all over the world to start a protest in their country. Read More Details Here. We had worldwide over 60 Protests, and other awareness events that happened globally on the weekend of May 10.

This year, we are holding our second annual Worldwide Lyme Protest.
When: Weekend of May 16-18th, 2014
Where: Globally, in over 20 countries and over 20 states.
Important Links:

We know not everyone can show up at a protest or rally. Some patients are homebound and can only participate from home or online. Each state or country may vary in what campaigns they are involved in. For the United States we ask that you pick which ones would be best for you.

Physical Events- Protests, Rallies, Walks, Awareness Booths- Click Here for List of physical events. Click here for event ideas.

BillBoard Campaign– To participate in this, just please share our fundraiser site for our tshirts. The money we raise is 100% going towards Lyme Awareness Billboards. The more money we collect the more billboards we can put up! Also Join our Facebook Page!

Lyme Lives Here Campaign- On the weekend of May 16-18th, make a sign that says, “Lyme Lives Here.” You can put it in your yard. Or you can go someplace publicly like your town sign, a medical center, the Public Health Building, be creative, go in a group or do it individually. We would like a picture from every state and country around the world with someone holding a “Lyme Lives Here” sign. Make sure to put your town, state or country on it! You can purchase a yard sign here. Feel free to customize it too add your location!

Google Album Campaign- Simply click this “We Are The Millions” and add your picture. You can add your story or a link to your blog or website in the comment section under your picture.

Add Yourself to the Lyme Patient Map- Just click HERE and add yourself to the Lyme Map. The point of this map is to show where Lyme patients live and need help and medical care. It is not to show where Lyme was contracted so just add where you live now. We want to show that this is a global problem.

Ribbons Across America- This is simple, just tie up a lime green ribbon on your mail box, front door or a tree in your front yard. Ask local retailers, banks, schools or libraries to hang one up on their doors too. Click Here for pictures from last year.

Samantha’s Green Porch Light Campaign-Switch your porch light to a green bulb for May! Very simple and easy to do. If you are more rambunctious, feel free to contact any public buildings to see if they will do this too! Click Here for picture from last year.

Getting a proclamation for your state for May being Lyme Awareness Month- Many states already have a proclamation, but if yours doesn’t, this is a project you can work on. See if your state has a proclamtion already by clicking here.

Write to your local Public Health Website and ask that they change their Lyme information to the correct information. Click Here for More Information on Where to Start

Worldwide Patients are raising awareness and protesting to highlight the need for:

1. Recognition that Lyme disease/borreliosis, and other tick-borne infections, such as Babesia, Bartonella, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, are serious, and sometimes fatal illnesses.2. Awareness of the fact that the transmission of tick-borne pathogens, such as borrelia, babesia, rickettsia, via blood transfusion is of global concern.3. Agreement that Lyme disease/borreliosis should be listed as a notifiable infection. Notifiable status will aid in ensuring that the incidence and spread of this disease are monitored, a necessary precursor to determining the human suffering and socioeconomic impact of the disease.4. Education of the healthcare sector regarding the accurate diagnosis of Lyme, which in some cases may be limited to clinical presentation due to limitations of serological testing.

*Education should ensure all doctors are familiar with the CDC caution pertaining to criteria for blood tests for Lyme: “This surveillance case definition was developed for national reporting of Lyme disease; it is NOT appropriate for clinical diagnosis…Surveillance case definitions are created for the purpose of standardization, not patient care.”

* Education that Lyme should be included as a differential diagnosis when considering other illnesses that are also reliant on subjective clinical presentation, or have no known cause. This includes, but is not limited to: Motor Neurone Disease (MND) also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) ; Multiple Sclerosis ; Alzheimer’s; Parkinson’s disease; Sarcoidosis.

5. Education of the healthcare sector regarding affordable and effective treatment of both acute and chronic Lyme and other tick-borne infections. This includes the need to update the outdated treatment guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and to take into account the treatment methods of other Societies such as: The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) and the German Borreliosis Society (Deutsche Borreliose-Gesellschaft : DBG)

6. Funding for research into tick-borne diseases. Including: Funding for medical research into accurate Lyme testing and treatment ; Funding for research into vectors and reservoir hosts to determine what diseases they may carry and transmit.