The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has risen the hope of Nigerians as it announced that clinical trial of dexamethasone, the life saving drug recently discovered by a team of researchers from the United Kingdom, to their treatment regimen, will commence.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire who made the announcement during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Thursday June 18, said dexamethasone is not a “drug you should be using but a medicine that the doctor is to use.”
Osagie said;
“I did mention that there is a medicine that we are going to ask our clinicians to try. It is not a medicine that you should be using but a medicine that the doctor is to use.
“Luckily this medicine is not new and it is well-known to be used for other purposes as a steroid. It was found to be useful in this case. It is easy to try it out because we know the side effects. Also, the usual dosage is well-known and it is not a medicine that is terribly expensive or unavailable.
“We are going to ask our clinicians to also consider adding it for their trials and see what results it works in our own circumstances for this particular problem.”
