Dexamethasone, which produces good results in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in a serious state, was included in the provisional National Clinical Protocol for the COVID-19 infection and is used to treat patients in Moldova on doctors’ instructions, IPN reports.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection, all the health facilities have sufficient quantities of this medicine to ensure the clinical management of all the patients, in accordance with medical instructions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on June 16 welcomed the initial clinical trial results from the United Kingdom that show dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, can be lifesaving for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19. 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, according to preliminary findings shared with WHO. The benefit was only seen in patients seriously ill with COVID-19, and was not observed in patients with milder disease.

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.