At a time when the critical patient infected by number of COVID-19 has increased drastically in Nepal, the government has started to administer Remdesivir anti-viral to the needy patient.

However, the government has limited the use and distribution of the Remdesivir as the medicine is still under trial reports The Rising Nepal.

Dr. Pradeep Gyawali, member secretary of the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), said that the Remdesivir anti-viral is available in COVID-19 dedicated hospitals specified by the government.

According to daily, the protocols and guidelines set forth by the NHRC, in direct surveillance of doctors, must be followed while medicating the virus patients with Remdesivir.

"Since the medicine is under research and investigation, consent of patients is vital to put Remdesivir into use," added Dr. Gyawali. He said that the medicine could be used only for the purpose of research and investigation, with approval of the Department of Drugs Administration (DDA).

According to Santosh KC, information officer and senior drug administrator at the DDA, the recently imported vials of Remdesivir were being used only in level-2 and level-3 COVID-19 dedicated hospitals.

He said that Currently, import of this anti-viral injection has been allowed only from three Indian companies, Cipla, Mylan and Hetero. An agreement was made on August 15 to allow import of 2000 vials of Remdesivir from each of these three companies,” said KC. He added that additional vials of Remdesivir would be brought on the basis of its effectiveness.

The medication is being administered only to those virus infected patients who are admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with their consent,” added KC.

“We have been providing the injection to a couple of COVID-19 patients,” said Dr. Santa Kumar Das, coordinator of the COVID-19 management committee of the hospital.

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