Sick and tired: Australia's Long Covid inquiry report released

A national Long Covid and Covid-19 database is among the key recommendations of a unanimous report released by an Australian parliamentary Committee for its inquiry into Long Covid and repeated Covid infections.

The House of Representative’s Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport’s report aims to improve Australia’s response to Long Covid, an often-debilitating condition possibly affecting hundreds of thousands of Australians.

The Chair of the Committee, Dr Mike Freelander MP said: ‘It is clear that the emergence of Long Covid has created challenges for patients and health care professionals alike. People with Long Covid suffer from a lack of information and treatment options. Health care professionals, who worked tirelessly over the acute phase of the pandemic, are now in a difficult situation trying to support patients with this new and poorly understood condition.’

The Committee made nine unanimous recommendations aimed at strengthening the Australian Government’s management of Long Covid, including regarding:

• A definition of long COVID for use in Australia
• Evidence-based living guidelines for long COVID, co-designed with patients with lived experience
• A nationally coordinated research program for long COVID and COVID-19
• The COVID-19 vaccination communication strategy
• Access to antiviral treatments for COVID-19
• Support for primary healthcare providers
• Indoor air quality and ventilation.

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Source: Parliament of Australia, 24 April 2023