Kyriakides launches €2m project to ‘tackle’ long Covid

European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides on Tuesday announced a €2 million project aimed at “tackling” long Covid in the European Union.

The European Commission said the project will focus on seven key areas – defining long Covid, developing a system of supervising the illness, promoting information sharing among healthcare professionals, developing clinical guidelines and recommendations, supporting people with the illness and their carers, addressing the socioeconomic consequences of long Covid, and identifying research gaps.

To this end, the commission will establish a “long Covid group”, which will enable stakeholders and patients’ groups to “share their experiences and knowledge” at a European level.

Kyriakides launched the project at a conference organised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday, with the conference itself set to bring together experts from various fields to discuss long Covid and ways to support people impacted by the disease.

“Long Covid has serious consequences for people who suffer from it, and, in general, for our society and economy. This EU project we are launching once again highlights the Commission’s commitment and determination to tackle this disease and to support patients and their families in every way possible,” she said.

The World Health Organisation said long Covid impacted 36 million people in Europe during the first three years of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the commission estimating that it cost the EU’s economy between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent of its gross domestic product, due to the associated reduction in the bloc’s labour supply.