Pakistan mulls use of dexamethasone to treat critical COVID-19 patients

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to task an expert committee to review the efficiency of using dexamethasone, a steroid, as a possible treatment for critically ill COVID-19 patients, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza said on Wednesday.
A day earlier, initial clinical trial results from the United Kingdom (UK) showed that the medicine could help critically ill coronavirus patients.
In one of his Twitter posts, Mirza said: “Positive results from UK on use of Dexamethasone 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.”
He added: “Expert Committee in Pakistan to consider inclusion.”
The prime minister’s adviser noted, “We have multiple producers [of the medicine] in Pakistan.”
However, he also warned people that dexamethasone was not a preventive drug.
“PLEASE NOTE: It is ONLY FOR critically ill COVID-19 patients ie those on oxygen and ventilators,” he said, adding that the medicine “MUST NOT be used by mild to moderate patients.”
“Self-medication is strictly prohibited,” he added, “and can be dangerous as the medicine has many side-effects.”
Dr. Qaiser Sajjad, the Pakistan Medical Association’s general secretary, told Arab News that the country should start clinical trials to assess the efficiency of the medicine before making any decision.
He also warned that “people should not use this medicine without a doctor’s recommendation since it is only for those who are seriously ill or on a ventilator.”
Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed the initial clinical trial results of dexamethasone for patients on ventilators, saying: “This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support.”
“For patients on ventilators, the treatment was shown to reduce mortality by about one third, and for patients requiring only oxygen, mortality was cut by about one fifth,” the statement continued.
“This is great news and I congratulate the Government of the UK, the University of Oxford, and the many hospitals and patients in the UK who have contributed to this lifesaving scientific breakthrough,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general.
According to the international health agency, dexamethasone is a steroid that has been used since the 1960s to reduce inflammation in a range of conditions, including inflammatory disorders and certain cancers.
It has been listed on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines since 1977 in multiple formulations and is currently off-patent and affordably available in most countries.
Pakistan has recorded a sharp increase in COVID-19 patients. The number of infections crossed the 150,000-mark in the country on Wednesday, with the health ministry saying that 136 people had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total fatality count to 2,975.