News article | 01-06-2023 | 6:45 p.m.
Minister Kuipers of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) announces the launch of a National Post-COVID Expertise Network and a Multi-Year Post-COVID Research Programme. The network of expertise and the research program fall under the program “Research and knowledge sharing post-COVID”, for which an additional 32 million euros have been made available for the period 2023 to 2026. The program must guarantee that the knowledge and expertise in post-COVID COVID is increased and shared, with the aim of giving perspective to post-COVID people. ZonMw will further develop this program in the coming months.
Minister Kuipers: “Post-COVID affects many people and has a major impact on their lives. It is life changing for people as it can affect how much attention they can give to family, relatives and friends and activities such as work. Unfortunately, much is still unclear about the diagnosis and possible treatment of post-COVID. I prioritize giving perspective to post-COVID people. This is why I am setting up the Post-COVID Research and Knowledge Sharing Program.
National network of post-COVID expertise
Minister Kuipers asked ZonMw to set up a national network of post-COVID expertise. This network makes it possible to provide care – particularly for patients suffering from a complex disease – within the framework of research. The expertise network serves as a connector between the parties involved, the research results and the accumulated expertise. The aim of the network is to ensure that effective treatments reach patients and healthcare professionals as quickly as possible. In addition to the national, the center of expertise also establishes a connection with the European knowledge exchange.
Recently, the ministry worked with C-support, the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU) and ZonMw on the design of this national post-COVID network of expertise. The Dutch Hospital Association, Long Alliance Netherlands and the patient associations PostCovid NL and Long Covid Netherlands are also involved.
Multi-year post-COVID research program
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports continues to invest heavily in research and is establishing a multi-year research program through ZonMw. The goal of the multi-year research program is to learn more about persistent complaints after COVID-19 infection. The research program focuses on the development of knowledge on the mechanisms involved in post-COVID, the development of diagnostics and treatments and the optimization of care.
ZonMw is currently developing a Knowledge Agenda, which will show later this year which knowledge is still missing and has not (yet) been researched. This will show what further research is needed. This information will help shape the multi-year research program.