Switzerland Launches National Strategy for ME/CFS and Long COVID
Share
Switzerland is taking a national approach to improving care and support for people with ME/CFS and Long COVID.
In June 2026, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health launched a national strategy focused on the two conditions. The event brought together more than 50 experts from patient organizations, healthcare providers, health insurers, disability insurance, regional governments and other institutions.
The goal is to address some of the gaps that remain within the Swiss system, particularly around data collection, standards of care and coordination between healthcare and social services.
The need for that coordination is becoming increasingly clear. By the end of 2023, approximately 2,900 people with Long COVID had registered with Swiss disability insurance, representing 1.8% of all new registrations. Of those applicants, nine out of ten were considered 100% unable to work at the time they registered.
Switzerland is also confronting the challenge of understanding how many people are actually affected. A 2025 mathematical model estimated that at least 1% of the Swiss population was experiencing longer-term consequences of COVID-19 in 2023, although researchers reported a wide range between different modeling scenarios.
Rather than establishing a mandatory national Long COVID registry, Switzerland is looking at other ways to strengthen its data and healthcare infrastructure. The Federal Office of Public Health has said that a compulsory registry is not currently feasible because of factors including fluctuating symptoms and the lack of an appropriate legal framework.
The new national strategy instead puts greater attention on improving coordination across the systems patients already rely on, including physicians, rehabilitation providers, insurers, disability services and employers.
For the ME/CFS community in the United States, Switzerland's efforts are worth watching. The country is treating ME/CFS and Long COVID not simply as individual medical issues, but as conditions that require a coordinated national response.
As Switzerland develops its strategy, its experience could provide useful lessons about what works and what doesn't when a country makes ME/CFS and Long COVID a national healthcare priority.