The Prime Minister's Special Assistant (SAPM) for National Health Services, Dr. Zafar Mirza said on Wednesday that a selection of health professionals would consider using the generic steroid dexamethasone to treat severe COVID-19 patients in the country.
In a Twitter statement, he said, “Positive UK results for the use of dexamethaone for critical patients who have been welcomed by WHO as initial treatment and have been shown to reduce the mortality of COVID-19 patients require oxygen or ventilation. [Pakistan] Committee of Experts for Inclusion Assessment. "
<318> Positive results from UK on use of Dexamethaone in critical patients welcomed by WHO as a 1st treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring Oxygen or ventilator support. Expert Committee in 🇵🇰 to consider inclusion. https://t.co/3RbVQrWdPp
— Zafar Mirza (@zfrmrza) June 17, 2020
The special assistant said it was an old and inexpensive anti-inflammatory drug (steroid), adding that there were several manufacturers of the drug in the country.
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He made it clear: “It is ONLY for critically ill COVID-19 patients, that is. patients with oxygen and respiratory protection. The drug should NOT be used in light to moderate patients. Self-medication is strictly prohibited and can be dangerous because the drug has many side effects. "
It is noteworthy that a clinical study in the UK called RECOVERY has recently shown that the steroid has saved a third of the most serious cases. The findings, which researchers who led the study called a `` major breakthrough, '' suggest that the drug should immediately become standard concern in patients treated for the hospital pandemic, the researchers said.
"This is a result that shows patients with COVID-19 being ventilated or given oxygen, given dexamethasone, saving lives and at a remarkably low price," said Martin Landray, a professor at Oxford University, who co-leads the study. .
