The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, calls for more money to support children and young people who are suffering from the consequences of the corona contact restrictions. School and daycare closures and social isolation have increased development and educational deficits as well as mental illnesses, said Reinhardt on the sidelines of the German Doctors’ Day in Bremen. “We have to do something to make up for this,” said the medical president.

Reinhardt had already pointed out at the opening of the Doctors’ Day on Tuesday that fears about the future, increased pressure to perform, loneliness, family tensions, conflicts and domestic violence are often among the consequences of the pandemic for adolescents. “These are major effects, some of which show up with a delay, after five or ten years,” he confirmed on Thursday.

According to Reinhardt, countermeasures could be taken, for example, with remedial teaching “that can reach everyone” and with campaigns to support social interaction, for example in sports clubs. It costs money, but so far “relatively little” has been spent on financing such offers.

The psychosocial effects of the pandemic on children and young people are among the main topics of the German Doctors’ Day in Bremen, which lasts until Friday.