LONDON: Dexamethasone, a cheap steroid, has been hailed as a lifesaver in the fight against COVID-19, with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) saying it has saved the lives of an estimated 1 million people globally.
The world’s largest randomized COVID-19 drug trial commenced in March 2020 to evaluate the suitability of a suite of different drugs to help hospitalized patients with the virus.
Just under 100 days after the program commenced, it found that dexamethasone — a cheap, widely available generic steroid — was shown to cut the risk of death by a third for COVID-19 patients on ventilators, and by almost a fifth for patients requiring oxygen therapy.
“It’s clear that dexamethasone has had a big impact,” said Peter Horby, an infectious disease specialist at Oxford University.
The latest estimates on lives saved by the drug are understood to be based on a study published in the journal Nature Communications in February, which assessed that some 12,000 lives in Britain would have been saved by the drug between July and December 2020.
The researchers said if this was applied globally, it would translate to about 650,000 lives saved over the same period.
Dr. Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals in England, said: “As the science progresses at pace, this is a good lesson for how we can turn cutting-edge research into prompt action to best respond to the next phase of the pandemic, including supporting people who experience long-term symptoms from the disease.”
