Mission statement

aha! Swiss Allergy Centre, a centre of excellence in the areas of allergy, skin, asthma and intolerance, offers information, advice and training courses to sufferers, but also to businesses, training centres, authorities, associations and other groups and it runs prevention and information campaigns. 

Introduction

aha! Swiss Allergy Centre is a non-profit foundation that is active throughout Switzerland, recognized by ZEWO and ISO-certified. We are the centre of excellence in the allergy field and focus on the reactions of the airways, digestive system and skin to environmental irritants. We have a visible public presence as the Swiss Allergy Centre and we are an independent contact point for sufferers and carers, but also for other interested groups such as the media, companies, training centres, politics, authorities and associations. The services we offer range from advising individuals and training courses through to prevention projects and campaigns for the population at large. These offerings are made possible by our widespread network and close cooperation with leading experts and professional bodies in the relevant spheres.

Vision and core idea

Our vision

• The prevalence (frequency) of allergies is clearly declining, made possible by a continual increase in individuals’ immunological tolerance as a result of appropriate measures being taken.
• Sufferers have the skills, life circumstances and support they need to live their lives as symptom-free as possible and with a consistently high quality of life.
• The stakeholders in society take on their share of responsibility for the health-related living conditions and quality of life of all humans.
• The Foundation aha! Swiss Allergy Centre is able to fulfil perfectly its key role in the necessary interaction between all those involved.

View of human beings and concept of health

• aha! Swiss Allergy Centre works on the assumption that people are self-empowering, take responsibility for themselves and share social responsibility, living integrated into society and the environment.
• We are guided by the WHO concept of health, whereby health is not merely the freedom from disease and symptoms but a state of all-encompassing physical, psychological and social well-being.

Aims, duties and resources

Our aim

aha! Swiss Allergy Centre supports the health and quality of life of allergy sufferers, their families and potential sufferers and promotes preventive action by a wide diversity of players. In cooperation with our partners, we campaign for high-quality, broadly accessible services: primary prevention with the focus on living conditions and lifestyle; secondary prevention by improving skills and increasingly by supporting triage, diagnosis and therapy. Aided by modern quality development, we strive for best professional practice.

Our services

We ensure that relevant, up-to-date and well-founded knowledge as well as relevant offerings are available at all times to interested groups and largely free of charge to those affected. aha! Swiss Allergy Centre offers the following services:

• documentation, publications and information via the latest communication channels (mainly online) of high quality
• expert advice
• interdisciplinary training courses
• awareness-raising and information campaigns and events on current topics
• innovative projects as well as active cooperative and networking activities with third parties

Financing and sponsorship

ha! Swiss Allergy Centre was set up in 2000 in the form of a tax-exempt foundation as a successor to the self-help association DAS BAND which had been active since 1935. aha! Swiss Allergy Centre performs an important function for three million allergy and intolerance sufferers in Switzerland and ultimately for the whole population through its preventive work. It is essential to ensure that the foundation can perform this function in the long term. Our services are largely free of charge to those affected and are financed as follows:

• donations and legacies
• cooperative projects with companies, associations and public institutions
• cost-sharing schemes
• service agreement with the Federal Social Insurance Office

Companies, training centres, authorities and associations provide reimbursement for our services at market rates. In addition, we generate capital for the foundation through a market-oriented affiliated company, Service Allergie Suisse SA. These revenues fully benefit the Foundation aha! Swiss Allergy Centre and help us to fulfil the purpose of the foundation in a sustained way.

The foundation is doubly certified: ZEWO certification acts as a guarantee of transparent, targeted use of donated funds. Certification in accordance with ISO 9001 attests that working procedures and processes conform to international quality management standards.

General principles

Values

aha! Swiss Allergy Centre works according to the following values and principles:

• equity in healthcare and sustainable development
• empowerment, participation and respect of the independence of sufferers
• harm avoidance and charitable activities

Principles

aha! Swiss Allergy Centre defines its commitment based on the following principles:

• We give sufferers and interested parties answers to concrete questions. With well-founded, up-to-date, understandable and evidence-based information, we provide quick, uncomplicated help.
• In terms of active prevention, we offer guidance within the flow of information.
• We offer third parties advisory, information and training services so that they can optimise their products and services in the interests of sufferers.
• We cooperate in an interdisciplinary way with leading experts, institutions and professional societies, especially from the healthcare system and closely related fields.
• Our work undergoes a continuous process of quality development, providing the basis for optimum professional activity. We provide expertise and knowledge of the sector in a results-oriented and independent manner.
• We involve ourselves in networking activity at home and abroad to enable us to achieve our goals as effectively as possible
• We utilise our funds in a transparent, efficient and focused way and endeavour to achieve the best results with minimal use of resources. We openly provide information about our business activities at any time.
• Within our organisation we ensure responsible management of all our resources. Our mutual interaction is respectful and appreciative and is communicated in a transparent way.

Download: Mission statement of aha! Swiss Allergy Centre