Punjab okays drug to treat Covid-19 patients.

Byline: Asif Chaudhry

LAHORE -- The Punjab government has approved the use of Actemra, a life-saving drug, for treating critically ill Covid-19 patients in the wake of a sudden rise in the death rate reported by state-run hospitals across the province.

The 400mg injectable drug - an interleukin-6 inhibitor which goes by the generic name of tocilizumab - will be prescribed to patients who develop lung complications and an abnormal level of IL-6 in the blood. The IL-6 is an endogenous chemical which causes inflammation.

'The price of each dose of the drug (injection) is Rs60,000 and it will be given twice to patients under treatment at an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in a life-threatening condition,' a senior official told Dawn.

He said the decision was taken at a meeting called by Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Wednesday.

Actemra priced at Rs60,000 to be given twice to patients under treatment in ICU

The health department has allowed all teaching hospitals in Lahore to purchase 20 doses of the medicine.

Vice chancellors of medical universities, principals of medical colleges, members of the government's Corona Expert Advisory Group (CEAG), leading pulmonologists and professors of medicine attended the meeting.

Dr Asad Aslam Khan, the chief executive of Lahore's Mayo Hospital, presented a study regarding the use of the drug on critical patients in ICUs.

He told the meeting that his hospital had reported an 80-90 per cent recovery rate after doctors prescribed this drug to critical patients of Covid-19 brought there with damaged lungs and severe pneumonia.

He said one of...

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