UK invests £20m in 'life-changing' programme to treat long Covid

AN investment of £20 million has been announced in 15 research studies to find ways to diagnose, treat and support those suffering from long Covid.

The Department of Health and Social Care on Sunday (18) said the £19.6m will find ways to benefit sufferers and explore new treatments.

Research shows that up to one in three people diagnosed with Covid continues to experience chronic symptoms for months after their initial diagnosis.

The research will be backed by government funding through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). 

Researchers will focus on understanding the condition, evaluating the outcome of different care services, identifying treatments, rehabilitation, recovery and also improving home monitoring and self-management of symptoms.

Calling the new programme “life-changing” for sufferers, health and social care secretary, Sajid Javid said long Covid can have serious and debilitating long term effects for thousands of people across the UK which can make “daily life extremely challenging”. 

“It will build on our existing support with over 80 long Covid assessment services open across England as part of a £100m expansion of care for those suffering from the condition and over £50m invested in research to better understand the lasting effects of this condition,” Javid said.

Among the projects will be the largest long Covid trial to date, recruiting more than 4,500 people with the condition to test the effectiveness of existing drugs on treating the lasting symptoms.

Professor Nick Lemoine, chair of NIHR’s long Covid funding committee and medical director of the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN), said: “This package of research will provide much-needed hope to people with long-term health problems after Covid-19, accelerating the development of new ways to diagnose and treat long Covid, as well as how to configure healthcare services to provide the absolute best care."

"Together with our earlier round of funding, NIHR has invested millions into research covering the full gamut of causes, mechanisms, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of long Covid," Prof Lemoine said.