A clinical trial in the NHS which found dexamethasone to be an effective COVID-19 treatment has saved millions of lives across the world.
Since the RECOVERY trial, led by University of Oxford scientists, dexamethasone has been used to treat millions of seriously unwell patients with Coronavirus.
New figures show that the use of the drug so far out saved 22,000 lives in the UK and an estimated one million worldwide.
The RECOVERY researchers found that dexamethasone cut the risk of death by a third for COVID patients on ventilators. It also found to cut the risk of death for those on oxygen by almost a fifth.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, has said about the success of the trial: “This global pandemic has proven that the UK is a world-class force in identifying and rolling out lifesaving treatments to NHS patients.”
“Finding dexamethasone through our government-funded RECOVERY trial was a true success story for British research and it is fantastic to see the real impact it’s having saving lives here and around the world,” he added.
Finding dexamethasone through our government-funded RECOVERY trial was a true success story for British research and its fantastic to see the real impact it’s having saving lives here and around the world
Dexamethasone is typically used for allergies and skin conditions.
Moving quickly to use the breakthrough research in a hospital setting, dexamethasone was made available to patients in England just hours after the results were announced in June.
Hancock also stated: “Our work is never done and we are continuing our search for the best treatments the world has to offer for COVID-19, and build on the success of the vaccine rollout, to save even more lives as we get back to normality.”