The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has donated 400,000 vials of dexamethasone injection to Namibia’s Ministry of Health to support the fight against Covid-19.
Dexamethasone has been approved and recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the treatment of Covid-19.
Namibia, with a population of about 2.5 million, is experiencing the third wave of the pandemic.
Figures from the southern African country show that over 115,793 cases of Covid-19 and more than 2,000 deaths have been recorded.
The country recently recorded a sharp increase in the numbers of new cases and deaths, with doctors calling for a national shutdown due to unavailability of oxygen and personal-protective equipment.
Development Diaries understands that the medication from UNICEF has been approved by the Namibia Medicine Regulatory Council (NMRC), and incorporated into the country’s treatment algorithm for Covid-19 patients in public and private hospitals.
‘This injectable medicine is stored below 25 degrees celsius and we have already commenced with distributing this critical and essential medicine to health facilities around the country’, the Executive Director of the Namibian Ministry of Health, Ben Nangombe, said in a statement.
‘We are sincerely grateful for this support and demonstration of true solidarity, especially during this time when we are confronted with combating the devastating third wave of Covid-19 in our country’.
Dexamethasone injection was manufactured in Greece by Demo SA Pharmaceuticals and is valued at US$148 896.
Source: Namibia Economist
Photo source: IMF
