March 15 is International Long Covid Awareness Day.
The United States Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey indicates that about 1 in 4 people — approximately 27,831,176 Americans — who have had COVID-19 will experience Long Covid. These numbers reflect a looming economic crisis. Harvard Health Economist David Cutler estimates that the cumulative cost to GDP as of July 2022 was $3.719 trillion, with $544 billion in additional costs incurred annually. According to his calculations, total costs due to Long Covid could reach $8.343 trillion by 2030. Cutler has stated that Long Covid requires an annual investment of at least $28 billion in the U.S., yet only $128.75 million per year over the next four years has been committed for treatment developments.
Awareness of Long Covid is growing. A recent survey conducted by Pew Research Center among 10,133 U.S. adults from Feb. 7-11, 2024 found that 50% of Americans say it is extremely or very important for medical researchers and healthcare providers to understand and treat Long Covid. An increase in public awareness is positive, but there is still much work to be done.
That’s why Solve is leading the charge on Long Covid.
In 2021 we co-founded the Long Covid Alliance (LCA), a global network of patient-advocates, clinicians, disease experts, and drug developers, and began leveraging their collective knowledge and resources to educate policy-makers, accelerate research, and transform the broader understanding of “long haul” diseases, including ME/CFS, Long Covid, and other infection-associated chronic conditions and illnesses.
That same year, we spearheaded the call for federally funded research into Long Covid and our message was heard! Congress approved $1.15 billion for Long Covid research and clinical trials, with $100 million specifically used for the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics.
We are passionate advocates for our Long Covid community members, and we provide resources and educational webinars to help navigate your health journey and inform the fight for better diagnostics and treatments, and, ultimately, a cure.
You can get involved and honor this day by taking any of the following actions:
Register for Solve M.E. Advocacy Week 2024 by midnight on March 18.
Advocacy Week is a nationwide advocacy effort to connect people with ME/CFS, Long Covid, POTS and other dysautonomias, Chronic Lyme, and other infection- associated chronic conditions and illnesses; scientists; clinicians and caregivers to share their unique stories with Congress.
Registration closes at midnight on March 18. Sign up today!
Join our real-world data platform Solve Together.
Solve Together is a dynamic, patient-centered platform that integrates multiple data sources designed to speed up the discovery of treatments and cures. We make data on post-infectious diseases accessible to researchers, expediting the identification of diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Patients can create reports for their doctors, sync health-tracking wearables, and discern their distinct symptom and health trends. Solve Together will also enable Solve to connect researchers with individuals interested in participating in clinical research studies.
Any U.S. adult can join Solve Together, whether they have ME/CFS, Long Covid, other infection-associated chronic conditions or illnesses, or none of these conditions (serving as “Control” participants). Joining is free, voluntary, and participants can opt out anytime.
Share our Long Covid PSA.
In 2022, Solve launched the first-ever public service announcement (PSA), “How Long?” to raise awareness of Long Covid.
“How Long?” aired nearly 200,000 times across the United States to an estimated audience of 1 billion people, helping to increase awareness about Long Covid and its implications. The “How Long?” message is more relevant than ever.
Help spread the word about Long Covid by sharing our PSA across all of your social channels.
Make a gift to Solve today.
Solve is the leading nonprofit dedicated to supporting key research into solving Long Covid and other infection-associated chronic conditions and illnesses, both by funding scientists directly and by influencing government spending. With your support, we will #StopTheLongHaul!
Make a donation to Solve here.
