A Breakthrough At Last.

The discovery of the first life-saving drug, Dexamethasone, for critical COVID-19 patients is a breakthrough that should be celebrated. It has shown to reduce risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators, and by a fifth for those on oxygen. This means that thousands of lives can now be saved, and at low costs. Fortunately, the drug is widely available in the market at cheap rates and doctors here at home have already been using steroids to treat COVID-19. Herein lies the challenge for the government of Pakistan.

Previous incidents show that whenever there is a rise in demand, an artificial shortage is created and prices are increased manifold to rip off desperate people. Despite stern warnings, the government has been unable to control the menace. Be it Remdesivir or Tocilizumab (Actemra) or even oxygen tanks, distributors claim to be out of stock while products remain available on the black market at exorbitant rates. The same fate should not befall Dexamethasone. Government should survey the market to check availability, and if numbers justify it, it should open lines of procurement to create a sufficient...