Long Covid patients hand petition to parliament seeking recognition

The patient group Long COVID Netherlands is calling for recognition, research and multidisciplinary treatment of Long COVID, ANP reported. A petition to this effect will be handed over to the parliamentary committee for Public Health, Welfare, and Sport on Tuesday.

The patient group called on the government to play a coordinating role in tackling long-term Covid. The petition has already been signed more than 10,000 times.

The condition known as Long Covid refers to long-term symptoms after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. These may linger for several weeks after recovering from Covid-19, but they can also last for months. The group pointed out that thousands of people have been ill for more than a year and that they are falling between the cracks in terms of medical care.

"The condition is not yet well understood by doctors and the futile search for help, through many GPs and specialists, demands a lot from patients and also puts permanent pressure on healthcare," they argued in the petition.

"The individual and social costs are high. People are cut on their income, lose their job or are forced to drop out of school or education," the petitioners said.

According to Long COVID Netherlands, a significant amount of money is being put aside in the United States and the United Kingdom for long-term Covid research and treatment. The Netherlands is lagging behind, the patients group warned.

"Less biomedical research is performed and the sometimes serious complaints are not always taken seriously. Doctors who want to help often lack time, information and resources," they stated in the petition.