The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has donated 400 000 ampoules of dexamethasone, valued at over N.dollars 2 million, to Namibia.

In a media statement issued Monday, Executive Director in the Ministry of Health and Social Services Ben Nangombe said the donation was made to support Namibia’s treatment of COVID-19 patients.

According to the statement, dexamethasone is approved and recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the treatment of COVID-19 infections.

Nangombe said it is also approved by the Namibia Medicines Regulatory Council and has been adopted and incorporated in Namibia’s treatment of COVID-19 patients in public and private hospitals.

“This injectable medicine arrived in the country on 30 July 2021 and the ministry has already commenced with the distribution of this critical and essential medicine to health facilities around the country,” the executive director said.

According to the WHO website, preliminary findings shared with the organisation showed that 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.

Source: Namibia Press Agency