Thread by @martinmckee

Our new @EU_Health #EXPH report on #LongCovid is just out.
Recommendations in 🧵👇

ec.europa.eu/newsroom/sante…

1. Research on long COVID should, as far as possible, be explicitly co-produced with people living with the condition, with co-creation of potential therapeutic interventions, as well as consideration of the pathway along which the findings of the research can achieve impact

2. Research on long COVID, and especially on potential treatments, needs to be done at sufficient scale to provide definitive answers that take account of any heterogeneity within the population and the contexts in which they are situated.

3. Health systems must embed research on long COVID at all levels of care including rehabilitation, identifying incentives that can be applied & barriers that can be removed to facilitate development of health facilities as settings for research and health workers as users of it.

4. As SARS-CoV-2 infection is the cause of long COVID, measures to combat it, including vaccination and reducing transmission, must remain a priority

5. Long COVID is to be recognized as one of many complex chronic conditions that will often co-exist with others, calling for models of care co-ordinated in primary care, with scope for rapid referral to specialist teams while avoiding placing patients in “long COVID siloes”.

6. A coordinated programme of surveillance systems should be established, including data from each member state, using consistent case definitions and methodologies, and encompassing the impact of this condition on health, employment, and the economy.

Thanks to Dionne Kringos, Jelka Zaletel @JanDeMaeseneer @pitabarros @lasleh @mayacmat & others including our special advisor @Dr2NisreenAlwan