New drug to curb rising Covid-19 deaths

The Ministry of Health will start using a more effective drug to treat Covid-19 patients after the country reported seven deaths on October 10, the highest death toll in a day since the pandemic hit Uganda in March. 
Unlike the previous treatment that focused on managing Covid-19 symptoms, Remdesivir is an antiviral drug that directly attacks the coronavirus and hinders its ability to reproduce.
Of the seven deaths reported by Ministry of Health, three were from Kampala, four from Mbarara, Jinja, Mbale and Masaka districts.  

Dr Bruce Kirenga, the director of Makerere University Lung Institute, who is treating Covid-19 patients at Mulago hospital, said he is training health workers on how to use Remdesivir to treat Covid-19 patients.
 “I am hopeful that Covid-19 deaths will start to go down because we already have a more effective treatment. On Monday [today], I am starting to train the first group of health specialists on how to use the drug to treat Covid-19 patients,” Dr Kirenga said.

“By Tuesday, we will have administered some doses. If people continue to come early when they experience Covid-19 symptoms, we will curb Covid-19 deaths. [Rising] mortality is a reflection of generalised community transmission and a situation where people with the disease stay at home and come to the hospital in the last hour of their lives,” he added.

Remdesivir is an investigational drug that was first developed for Ebola but has been issued an emergency use for the management of Covid-19 from a number of drug regulatory authorities worldwide including the US Food and Drug Administration.
The National Drug Authority (NDA) has also approved the importation and use of Remdesivir injection in the country for treatment of Covid-19 cases.

In a letter to all pharmaceutical importers on September 30, Dr David Nahamya, the NDA secretary, said the injection will strictly be imported for use within healthcare facilities designated for management of Covid-19 where patients can be closely monitored. 
“There is growing clinical and scientific evidence indicating that Remdesivir injection shows potential for positive clinical outcomes in the management of Covid-19,” Dr Nahamya said.

In June, India’s Cadila Healthcare entered into a non-exclusive agreement with US bio-pharmaceutical company - Gilead Sciences Inc to manufacture and sell Remdesivir.