London: The UK government on Wednesday authorised the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) to use steroid dexamethasone, the world’s first coronavirus treatment proven to reduce the risk of death among severely ill patients. The Department of Health said the cheap and widely available anti-inflammatory steroid has been immediately approved to treat all hospitalised COVID-19 patients, after an Oxford University trial confirmed positive results on Tuesday.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the government-funded trial as the biggest breakthrough , which has greatly reduced patients’ chances of dying from the virus. The drug has also been added to the UK government’s parallel export list, which bans companies from buying medicines meant for UK patients and selling them on for a higher price in another country. (PTI)
