PostCovidNLLong Covid patients demonstrate in the Chamber building
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 18:00
Sander Zurhake
healthcare editor
Sander Zurhake
healthcare editor
In the run-up to the elections tonight, interest groups for people with long covid are trying to conclude a ballot box agreement with as many political parties as possible. In this way, they hope to receive more recognition and better care from the next government.
Prior to tonight’s parliamentary debate on the social impact of this chronic condition, PostCovid NL, Long Covid Netherlands, Children with Long Covid and #NietHersteld are therefore presenting a petition in the House of Representatives. It contains three points that can serve as a basis for such a ballot box agreement.
According to them, there is a lack of public awareness in the Netherlands of what long Covid is and does. The next government should make an effort to achieve this. People with this condition often experience misunderstanding. An example given is about compulsory education officials who sometimes do not understand that children with long Covid really cannot participate in regular education.
According to the interest groups, Safe at Home is sometimes called in when parents keep their sick child at home.
Indispensable outpatient clinics
In addition, specialist care for long Covid patients is insufficiently accessible, the petition argues. That also has to change. Even though people can now visit their GP or a medical specialist, experience shows that they are not always expert enough in this area. It is not uncommon for patients to receive treatments that worsen long Covid.
Specialized outpatient clinics in academic hospitals where this expertise is available had to close their doors or impose a patient freeze due to a lack of funding.
And thirdly, the importance of financing biomedical research is emphasized.
Post-infectious diseases
The interest groups call the 32 million euros that outgoing Minister Kuipers has allocated until 2026 for research into long Covid “a great start”. However, they are concerned about long-term financial support from the government. They argue that a new government should commit itself to this research program on an even more extensive and long-term basis.
And in line with this, there is added value in establishing a national expertise center where knowledge and experience is collected for not only the treatment of long Covid, but also other post-infectious conditions.
Because people who have had Q fever, flu or mononucleosis, for example, can also remain disabled for a long time. Their symptoms are often similar to those experienced by people with long Covid. The causes of these long-term conditions are also still largely a mystery.
Scientists think that interdisciplinary research, in which the various chronic conditions are examined together, is essential to achieve breakthroughs. Such a national expertise center could contribute to this. In the summer of 2022, a majority of the House of Representatives voted in favor of establishing such an institute.
Priorities
Nevertheless, Minister Kuipers did not go that far. He has ordered the establishment of a national network of experts on long Covid. In a letter to Parliament, the minister writes that “other post-infectious conditions” can be investigated in the long term. To the annoyance of many patients who demand more decisiveness from the minister.
Through the attempt to reach a ballot box agreement, they are now trying to gain more control over how politics in The Hague determines priorities when it comes to long Covid and similar conditions.
2023-10-04 16:00:01
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