HHS Forms the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice and Launch of Long COVID Clinical Trials
HHS has founded the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice to lead the Long COVID response and coordination across the federal government.
- By BSTQ Staff
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has founded the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice to lead the Long COVID response and coordination across the federal government. In addition, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched Long COVID clinical trials through the RECOVER Initiative.
The Office of Long COVID Research will be located within HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health under the leadership of the HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine, MD. The office is charged with ongoing coordination of the whole-of-government response to the longer-term effects of COVID-19, including Long COVID and associated conditions and the implementation of the National Research Action Plan on Long COVID. Currently, 14 federal departments engage on Long COVID, including more than a dozen HHS operating and staff divisions with a goal to reduce the impacts of Long COVID by improving quality of life for people living with Long COVID and reducing disparities related to Long COVID.
The NIH RECOVER Initiative is a $1.15 billion nationwide research program designed to understand, treat and prevent Long COVID, which describes long-term symptoms following infection by SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. More than 200 symptoms are associated with Long COVID, and the condition can cause problems throughout the body, affecting nearly all body systems, including the nervous, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, autonomic and immune systems.
“The Office of Long COVID Research and Practice will enhance efforts being undertaken across the U.S. government to improve the lives of those who continue to experience the long-term impacts of the worst public health crisis in a century,” said Admiral Levine, “bringing together the resources and expertise of federal, state and local partners, patients, providers, researchers and the business sector to answer the American [people’s] most urgent calls to action.”
References
HHS Announces the Formation of the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice and Launch of Long COVID Clinical Trials Through the RECOVER Initiative. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release, July 31, 2023. Accessed at www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/07/31/hhs-announces-formation-office-long-covid-research-practice-launch-long-covid-clinical-trials-through-recover-initiative.html.
