GOAL: To greatly improve fungal infection outcomes in patients through public and health care professional awareness leading to improved clinical suspicion and diagnosis.

Why focus on fungi and fungal disease?

As fungal infections are good disease mimics, doctors mistake them for other problems. The symptoms of other illnesses such as asthma, TB, cystic fibrosis, leukaemia and HIV infection may obscure the real (fungal) diagnosis. The public should be aware of the possibility of fungal disease. If patients, relatives and friends can alert doctors to test for fungal infection, lives will be saved and those affected will improve faster. This will mean that other tests and treatments will not be wasted.

Patient and relatives can effect change is ways that professionals often cannot. Fungal disease is somewhat complex, like cancer, but the main points should be understood by everyone.