State government strengthens Long Covid care in Schleswig-Holstein - 3.55 million euros in funding for three projects at UKSH

06.09.2023 15:15

The cabinet met on September 5th. decided to support three projects to improve the care of patients with Long-Covid/Post-Covid with around 3.55 million euros. A corresponding proposal will be presented to the finance committee of the state parliament.

Health Minister Prof. Kerstin von der Decken emphasizes: “Those involved in general practitioner, specialist and clinical care are highly committed to helping people with Long Covid. The suffering of those affected is sometimes great, but at the same time there is a lack of approaches to targeted therapies. We therefore want to bring together and strengthen the competencies in Schleswig-Holstein. Treating physicians and patients are intended to benefit from the offer. The focus is on improving the health of those affected.”

Science Minister Karin Prien: “We have made an important contribution in Schleswig-Holstein to research into the long-term consequences of Covid-19 diseases. Our scientists are visible nationally and internationally with their studies – such as the COVIDOM study. This is a success and we will continue this systematic approach to researching the causes with new projects. Because we have excellent scientists in infection and basic research. We want to support their expertise together with our excellent technical infrastructure for the benefit of the people affected. Because more knowledge is an important basis for strengthening the quality of treatment.”

On the one hand - the Ministry of Health is in charge - two post-Covid care concepts developed at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) are to be funded with a total of 2.43 million euros:

• Part of the concepts is to establish interdisciplinary and cross-sector care for patients with severe post-Covid in Schleswig-Holstein.
• Special outpatient clinics that can provide support if necessary should also contribute to this: a post-Covid outpatient clinic for adults at the UKSH in Kiel and for children and young people at the UKSH in Lübeck.
• Patients and doctors in Schleswig-Holstein should benefit from the combination of specialist knowledge and targeted coordination between those involved.
• The first point of contact for patients remains the family doctor or pediatrician's practice, which should then communicate with the interdisciplinary coordination center or, if necessary, be able to make a referral there.
• Digital health applications should support appropriately targeted patient control as part of the project.

Prof. Dr. Folke Brinkmann, UKSH and University of Lübeck, will supervise the project in Lübeck together with colleagues and explains: “Long-Covid as a result of a SARS-CoV-2 infection is a medically relevant issue in both adults and children and adolescents and complex health phenomenon, even if children and young people were less likely to become seriously ill during the pandemic than adults. A functioning network between private practices, special outpatient clinics, rehabilitation facilities and, for children, schools and youth welfare offices is crucial for effective care for those affected.”

The funding is intended, among other things, to finance positions for the relevant coordination and the establishment of outpatient clinics. Construction should begin as soon as possible and the project should run until 2026.

On the other hand - the Ministry of Science is in charge - a project to research the long-term consequences of infectious diseases such as Covid-19 is to be funded with 1.125 million euros at the universities of Kiel and Lübeck in cooperation with the UKSH.

Prof. Dr. Jan Heyckendorf, UKSH/Leibniz Lung Clinic and Christian Albrechts University in Kiel, is in charge of both the care project and the research project at the UKSH Kiel together with colleagues and emphasizes:

“Previous work on post-Covid conditions has compared patients following a SARS-CoV-2 infection with healthy control cohorts. Systematic comparisons with conditions after other respiratory infections, such as influenza, which would allow a more precise classification of SARS-CoV-2, are still missing. With the planned study we want to compare post-Covid with the consequences of other infections. This should also make an important contribution to research into the causes and thus also to possible therapeutic approaches.” The target size for such a pilot study should be 500 adults and 200 children/adolescents.

Post-Covid refers to complaints that are still present, new or reoccur after 12 weeks of infection with the coronavirus. Those affected usually have impaired health in everyday life. As a generic term, Long-Covid includes all long-term complaints that are present longer than 4 weeks after infection with the coronavirus and thus also post-Covid.