07/04/2021
Research priorities for Long Covid: BMC Medicine commentary highlights the need for global research coordination and stronger health systems
To ensure that Long Covid does not become the lasting legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic, research must be based on multi-disciplinary and, global coordination and governments need to strengthen health systems in order to provide treatment, support and rehabilitation for patients.
In a commentary published in BMC Medicine, Dr. Gail Carson* and the Long Covid Forum Group present the findings of the Long Covid Joint Research Forum, with an emphasis on Long Covid’s lasting socioeconomic consequences in addition to the major health burden it represents. The forum was organized by GloPID-R and ISARIC (International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium) in collaboration with the advocacy group Long Covid Support to give voice to patients and assess the knowledge and science of Long Covid to date.
The commentary summarises the most pressing research priorities for scientists and funding bodies, aligned against WHO priorities, and recommends a globally coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach that supports large-scale, harmonised studies that will provide quality scientific evidence to inform policy and improve patient care in all countries.
Long Covid remains a little-understood condition with a range of clinical manifestations. It potentially affects millions of people worldwide who live with prolonged symptoms and complications of Covid-19.
Watch the forum
Videos of the Long Covid Forum organized 9-10 December 2020 by GloPID-R and ISARIC in collaboration with Long Covid Support.
*Dr. Gail Carson is Scientific Manager of the GloPID-R Secretariat, University of Oxford, UK
