Way clear for national post-covid center: ‘Thousands of people have serious complaints’ Politics

Minister Ernst Kuipers of Public Health (D66) was previously skeptical, but said during a corona debate today that a national expertise center can work as long as it does not have to be physically limited in one location.

Initiator SP MP Maarten Hijink thinks there is ‘something to be said for that’: ,,You want doctors and specialists to improve treatment and conduct research. We are not looking for a new expensive building, but on the actual organization of cooperation and improvement of treatment.”

SP and D66 argue for a national center to bundle the now fragmented post-covid knowledge. If general practitioners, hospitals and paramedics share their knowledge and experience, this should help to crack the ‘mystery’ surrounding the long-term corona complaints more quickly. “Many patients with post-covid have been walking around for too long with complaints for which there is no treatment and not always as much understanding,” says D66 MP Wieke Paulusma, who herself still suffers from her corona infection in 2020 “That is very painful and that has to change. The expertise center is therefore an important first step to better treat these patients.”

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Previously, patient organization C-support already argued for a national center of expertise. According to the political parties, people with Lyme disease and ME/CFS can also contact the knowledge center because ‘there seems to be a lot of overlap’. SP MP Hijink: ,,More research and better treatment is very much needed. Thousands of people have serious complaints every day and are unable to work or participate in society.”

It is unclear when the expertise center will be available. Next week, the House of Representatives will first vote on the motion by D66 and SP.