World Health Organisation chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the research surrounding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is at last providing “green shoots of hope” in treating the virus, that has killed nearly 500,000 people worldwide.
Trial results announced by British researchers last week showed generic drug dexamethasone to reduce inflammation in diseases such as arthritis, cut death rates by around a third among the most severely ill coronavirus patients admitted to hospital. This is the first drug proved to save lives and fighting the disease, pushing countries to procure it in masses.
Head of the WHO's emergencies programme, Mike Ryan said the drug should only be used in serious cases where it has been shown to help. In a press brief, he said, “It is exceptionally important in this case, that the drug is reserved for use in severely ill and critical patients who can benefit from this drug clearly.”
While the dexamethasone study results are preliminary, researchers said it could become standard care in severely stricken patients. Preliminary findings shared with the WHO reveals the treatment reduced the mortality by about a third, and for patients requiring only oxygen, it were cut by about one fifth. It said, “WHO will coordinate a meta-analysis to increase our overall understanding of this intervention. WHO clinical guidance will be updated to reflect how and when the drug should be used in Covid-19.”
Tedros said, “This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with Covid-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support.” Meanwhile, British Health Minister Matt Hancock said the government has increased the amount of dexamethasone it has in stock.
