SolidarMedthrough the Years
Partnerships for health - since 1926
Discover the people and moments that have shaped SolidarMed.
Founding
Around 80 people founded SolidarMed as an association to support Catholic missionary medicine. At the time, the organisation was known as the "Swiss Catholic Association for Missionary Medical Support".
Missionary Medical Caritas
The publication "Missionsärztliche Caritas" features reports on the work of the first Catholic medical missionaries: Maria Kunz in South Africa, Bertha Hardegger in Lesotho, and Alois Gabathuler in Tanzania.
World War II
The war years were also a time of crisis for the organization. Contact with the south was almost completely broken off. In Switzerland, some board members were on active duty. Membership numbers fell sharply.
25 years
The 25th-anniversary meeting is not well attended. The association is on a tight budget. Nevertheless, it continues to report on events from around the world in its publication: Africa, Latin America, India and South-East Asia.
Change of name: SKMV
The association changes its name to «Swiss Catholic Medical Missionary Association».
Sister Mary Annuncita
Nurse
An indispensable mediator for SolidarMed
Over the years, Sister Annunciata proved herself to be indispensable to SolidarMed and the Swiss doctors: she was a guardian angel, a refuge and a cultural "bridge-builder".
Edgar Widmer
Assistant doctor in Ifakara, Tanzania
Health beyond borders
For decades, Edgar Widmer shaped SolidarMed between Ifakara and Switzerland, built up networks and fought for a form of medicine that truly reaches people worldwide.
A spirit of optimism
Membership rises to over 2,000. The transition from the founding generation to the new co-presidency is successfully completed. Otto Studer and Edgar Widmer take over from the founder and long-standing president, Friedrich Kürner, and strengthen the organisation’s focus on international development.
Global vaccination programme
This year, a global vaccination programme (Expanded Programme on Immunization) is launched under the supervision of the WHO.
Josef Jeker
Assistant doctor in Lesotho
On the winding path to equality
Marie-Thérèse and Josef Jeker originally planned to go to Bhutan. But an unexpected letter took them to Lesotho: there, a remote hospital, extreme poverty, and unfamiliar ways of life awaited—experiences that forever changed their worldview and commitment.
Early successes for global health
Smallpox has been declared eradicated worldwide.
Dominik Mboya und Kafuruki Shubis
Tanzanian doctors
Victims of “Tanzanisation”
In 1999, the long-standing partnership between SolidarMed and the Catholic Church in Tanzania broke down. The victims of this traumatic episode were the two Tanzanian doctors, Dominik Mboya and Kafuruki Shubis.
Focus on Lesotho, Tanzania and Cameroon
A professional secretariat is established. For the first time, the budget exceeds the million-mark. In addition to private donations and, above all, church project grants, the SDC covers the costs of recruiting doctors and related projects. The association focuses on three countries: Lesotho, Tanzania and Cameroon; at the same time, doctors can now once again be sent to Zimbabwe, which has gained independence.
HIV epidemic
A massive increase in new HIV infections and the spread of the virus into an epidemic. Within a decade, HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe had risen to over 30 per cent and remained at this extremely high level for several years. The HIV virus did not kill quickly, but over a period of years. During this time, doctors witnessed a mass die-off against which they were virtually powerless for a long time.
Markus Frei
Doctor and former board member
The social conscience of medicine
As a young tropical medicine doctor, Markus Frei traveled to independent Zimbabwe in 1980. What followed was a formative career spanning everyday hospital work, development efforts in Tanzania, and the fight against HIV/AIDS – a commitment that has left a lasting impact on SolidarMed.
ZEWO certification
Since 1991, ZEWO has certified SolidarMed with its seal of approval for the trustworthy, purpose-specific, cost-effective and transparent management of donations.
The last missionary doctor
The last SolidarMed doctor leaves Cameroon. Medical missions have also come to an end in Ifakara (Tanzania). Here, SolidarMed has been carrying out assessments on behalf of the SDC since 1994 with a view to supporting the entire health system in the Kilombero District.
Development expert takes over as managing director
Rudolf Fischer, a development expert, takes over as managing director of SolidarMed.
Launch in Mozambique with a new approach
SolidarMed has decided to launch a project in Mozambique. The funding comes primarily from the SDC. The project goes far beyond simply deploying doctors to hospitals; it aims to develop the healthcare system, starting with a health centre in Chiúre.
Rudolf Fischer
Former Managing Director of SolidarMed
On the bumpy road to modernisation
“Mozambique was my passion project and an important showcase project for SolidarMed. With our interdisciplinary team, we were able to bring about a change in people's mindsets.”
75th anniversary and strategic shift
As it marks its 75th anniversary, SolidarMed is in the middle of a major restructuring. The strategy: health policy expertise rather than deploying doctors. The SDC has set high standards. This also requires new funding models and appropriate communication structures. The financial framework is tight.
SolidarMed is staying – despite the crisis
Despite the political crisis, SolidarMed intends to continue its programme in Zimbabwe.
HIV medicines are becoming affordable
Thanks to international programmes worth millions, HIV medicines are becoming affordable for countries in the Global South for the first time. The focus is on establishing a system that ensures patients have long-term access to treatment.
Thomas Gass
Country Coordinator HIV, Tanzania
HIV/AIDS in the new millennium
Thomas Gass, a former SolidarMed employee, ethnologist and health expert, has been instrumental in shaping the SolidarMed Antiretroviral Treatment Programme (SMART) from the very beginning.
Affordable medicines open up new possibilities
The availability of affordable HIV/AIDS medicines in the Global South opens up a new area of activity for SolidarMed. The organisation is launching its SolidarMed AntiRetroViral Treatment Programme (SMART) in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
Euphrasia Gwanyanya
Nurse and anaesthetist
A role model in the fight against HIV
”The more widely my life story became known, the more I became a prime example of someone who had cheated death, who could show all people living with HIV a way to overcome their prejudices and fears about medication and the social consequences of a diagnosis.”
Living with HIV
Thanks to access to affordable and effective treatments, HIV has evolved from a deadly disease to a chronic condition on the African continent as well. Nevertheless, the virus continues to require constant attention and a healthcare system that reliably maintains control measures.
Renate Albrecht
Doctor in Zimbabwe
Women in focus
Not everything that is fascinating about Renate Albrecht's reports on her work is due to her social position as a woman. Her words open a window onto a world that is otherwise rarely talked about.
New name, growing support
SolidarMed is now known as "SolidarMed – Swiss Organisation for Health in Africa". For the first time, the association has exceeded the one-million-franc mark in donations from its members and private donors.
Mats’eliso Setoko
Nurse in Lesotho
Therapy in the living room
With heart, discipline, and tireless willingness to learn, Mats’eliso Setoko has helped shape the fight against HIV/AIDS in Lesotho. From home visits in remote villages to studying in Europe, her journey exemplifies commitment, courage, and the lasting impact of SolidarMed in Seboche.
Growth phase
Almost 100 people work for SolidarMed, the majority of whom are local staff in the project countries.
Covid pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the health and living standards of people in the project countries.
Integration A&K Foundation
In 2020, SolidarMed merged with the Aids&Kind Foundation and is now also operating in South Africa, Kenya and India.
New programme for chronic diseases
Building on its experience in decentralised HIV/AIDS control, SolidarMed is launching a new programme: ComBaCaL (Community-Based Chronic Disease Care Lesotho). The programme aims to improve the quality of care for chronic conditions in Lesotho.
Leading standards in education and research
The organisation achieves outstanding results in its work, both in the training of health personnel and in the number of scientific analyses of its programmes.
Healthcare systems under pressure
Droughts and natural disasters, armed conflicts and acute crises in public health services characterise the situation in Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
100 years anniversary celebration
Join us on May 30, 2026, together with our team for an unforgettable celebration in Lucerne as we toast to SolidarMed’s 100th anniversary.
Documentary movie on tour
We warmly invite you to discover the 100-year history of SolidarMed in a documentary film by Beat Bieri (with the collaboration of Cristina Karrer). The film traces the organisation’s development – driven by people, exchange and active solidarity in collaboration with partners in Africa.
30.05.2026
100th General Assembly and celebration
Join us on May 30, 2026, together with our team for an unforgettable celebration in Lucerne as we toast to SolidarMed’s 100th anniversary.
The programme for the event is themed as follows:
“International cooperation for health: yesterday, today, tomorrow”
26.09.2026 - 5.11.2026
Documentary movie on tour
We warmly invite you to discover the 100-year history of SolidarMed in a documentary film by Beat Bieri (with the collaboration of Cristina Karrer). The film traces the organisation’s development – driven by people, exchange and active solidarity in collaboration with partners in Africa.