3rd Long COVID Congress in Berlin: A subject with need for action and research

Federal Health Minister Prof Dr Karl Lauterbach inaugurated the Congress with a stimulus where he underlined the relevance of Long COVID and other post-infectious diseases from health point of view. He emphasised the continuing importance of this subject and stressed the central role of the congress for the professional exchange and further development in this area: “The quality of life of people is greatly affected (...) and therefore, we must carry out intensive research. The care structure – the subject of the congress – is by no means optimum. It is therefore extremely worthwhile that you hold the congress here.”

The congress pursued the question: “Need-based care of post-infectious diseases – A problem for generations?” and to this end, provided eight subject rooms among other things, where experts from the field of research and practice present their projects. Current research projects and their results, diagnostic procedures and therapeutic approaches to Long COVID could be intensively discussed with the participating specialist community, focusing on e.g., psycho-social and ethical aspects of the illness or the care in paediatric care.  

Parallel to the subject rooms, there was a workshop in the plenum on “Ideas for improvement in care for children and adolescents with Long COVID”, where measures for concrete challenges were developed together with the long haulers and their relatives, staff, self-help groups, and initiatives by means of case studies. The workshop was conducted as a part of the participation process of the Federal Ministry of Health’s Long COVID initiative.