Epidemics Act

Epidemics Act (EpidA)
Federal Assembly of Switzerland
  • Federal Act on the Control of Communicable Human Diseases (SR 818.101)
Territorial extentSwitzerland
Enacted byFederal Assembly of Switzerland
Enacted28 September 2012
Commenced1 January 2016
Repeals
Epidemics Act (1970)
Status: Current legislation

Epidemics Act, EpidA(German: Epidemiengesetz; also known as Federal Act on the Control of Communicable Human Diseases) is a Swiss federal act designed to protect people from infections and to prevent and control the outbreak and spread of communicable diseases. The current version of the Epidemics Act is the result of the revision of September 28, 2012. The revision was necessary because the environment in which communicable diseases occur and pose a threat to public health has changed, and the law needed to be adapted accordingly.

An optional referendum against this revision was initiated by the EDU, the Citizens for Citizens Association (Verein Bürger für Bürger) and the Committee for True Democracy (Wahre Demokratie), and the 50,000 signature quorum was reached within 100 days. As a result, a referendum was held on September 22, 2013, in which the complete revision was approved by 60% of the population.