WHO approves Corticosteroids for treatment of COVID-19 severe cases
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a guidance for clinicians and healthcare decision-makers on the use of Corticosteroids for patients with severe COVID-19.
In a statement on Wednesday, Corticosteroids are listed in the WHO model list of essential medicines, readily available globally at a low cost.
It said: “We recommend systemic Corticosteroids for the treatment of patients with severe and critical COVID-19. We suggest not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of patients with non-severe COVID-19 as the treatment.”
The guidance, according to the statement, was developed in collaboration with the non-profit body, Magic Evidence Ecosystem Foundation (MAGIC), which provided methodologic support to develop and disseminate living guidance for COVID-19 drug treatments.
According to WHO, work on the guidance began on June 22, when a preliminary report on the impact of Corticosteroids recovery trial was published.
To supplement the results, WHO partnered with investigators of seven trials on Corticosteroids to conduct a meta-analysis of these trials, in order to rapidly provide additional evidence to build on recovery data and inform guidance development.
The guidance was thus informed by combining data from these randomised trials of systemic Corticosteroids for COVID-19.WHO provides guidance that works across all contexts for all countries and health care systems.
