News item | 01-06-2023 | 6:45 pm
Minister Kuipers of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) announces the start of a national post-COVID expertise network and a multi-year post-COVID research programme. The expertise network and the research program fall under the program ‘Research and knowledge sharing post-COVID’, for which an additional € 32 million has been made available for the period 2023 to 2026. The program must ensure that knowledge and expertise regarding post-COVID is increased and shared, with the aim of providing perspective for people with post-COVID. 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 changes people’s lives by impacting the attention they can give to their 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 providing perspective to people with post-COVID. That is why I am setting up the Post-COVID Research and Knowledge Sharing programme.”
National expertise network post-COVID
Minister Kuipers has asked ZonMw to set up a national post-COVID expertise network. This network makes care – especially for patients with a complex disease – possible in the context of research. The expertise network serves as a connector between relevant parties, research results and 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 national, the expertise center also establishes a connection with European knowledge exchange.
Recently, the ministry has been working with C-support, the Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU) and ZonMw on the design of this national expertise network post-COVID. The Dutch Association of Hospitals, Long Alliance Netherlands and the patient associations PostCovid NL and Long Covid Netherlands are also involved.
Multi-year research program post-COVID
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport continues to invest intensively in research and is setting up a multi-year research program through ZonMw. The aim of the multi-year research program is to learn more about persistent complaints after an infection with COVID-19. The research program focuses on developing knowledge about the mechanisms involved in post-COVID, developing diagnostics and treatment and optimizing care.
ZonMw is currently drawing up a knowledge agenda, which will show later this year which knowledge is still missing and not (yet) researched. This will show what additional research is needed. This information will help shape the multi-year research programme.