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Hamburg's CDU calls for more support for Long Covid patients!
On June 16, 2025, the CDU in Hamburg is calling for better support for Long Covid patients. A competence center should help.
Hamburg's CDU calls for more support for Long Covid patients!
Things are simmering in Hamburg when it comes to support for those affected by Long Covid and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). The CDU parliamentary group has now launched a new initiative to improve the necessary help for these patients. Loud NDR Hamburg lags significantly behind other federal states, such as Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, in terms of support. There is a particular need for special outpatient clinics and a competence center that will explicitly care for Long Covid patients and ME/CFS sufferers.
The Left had already submitted a similar proposal to improve medical care in December. Now the social authorities also recognize the need for action and are planning to expand support for those affected. The coalition agreement between the SPD and the Greens also states that supporting Long Covid patients plays a central role.
What is ME/CFS and Long Covid?
ME/CFS is a chronic disease characterized by extreme fatigue that occurs after minimal physical or mental activity. This information comes from a position paper by the Green Party, which summarizes comprehensive findings about the disease and its treatment. Symptoms can occur after various infectious diseases such as Covid or without known causes. There are no generally detectable biomarkers for ME/CFS, which makes diagnosis considerably more difficult. Green Hamburg also reports that the prevalence of the disease was around 0.15% to 0.3% before the pandemic and is expected to double after the pandemic.
Financial burdens
A report from the ME/CFS Research Foundation shows that by the end of 2024 more than 1.5 million people in Germany will be living with ME/CFS or Long Covid. The annual costs caused by both diseases amount to a shocking 63.1 billion euros, which corresponds to around 1.5% of Germany's gross domestic product. The recovery rate is low, only about 5% of those affected make a full recovery each year, and many require long-term care. Fatigatio reports on the serious economic and social consequences of these two widespread but often ignored widespread diseases.
In summary, it can be said that the situation for Long Covid and ME/CFS patients in Hamburg still needs to be improved. There is an urgent need for specialized contact points that offer not only medical but also social legal support. The need is there and the time to act is now – so that those affected receive the help they so desperately need.