A state of optimism met the announcement of the head of the Health Affairs Committee of the Egyptian Parliament - a member of the Supreme Committee for Respiratory Viruses, Dr.- Ashraf Hatem, that a drug used to treat Corona was introduced through pharmacies for the first time.
In press statements, Hatem confirmed that the introduction of the drug "Avipiravir" - which contains the active ingredient "Favipiravir" - in pharmacies will provide treatment for the injured faster without the need to go to isolation hospitals.
What is the nature of this treatment, how effective is it, and are its prices within the reach of the simple citizen?
Ayman El-Shenawy - a consultant of epidemics, viruses and biomedicine - confirmed that the drug to be released in pharmacies contains "favipiravir", which has the ability to inhibit and stop the reproduction of the virus inside the infected cells, and has demonstrated high efficiency in facing a number of respiratory viral diseases, including severe colds.
Al-Shenawi added to Al-Jazeera Net that the drug has proven reasonable success in treating the Corona virus, especially in simple or moderate cases of people infected with the virus, whether in Egypt or some countries such as Russia, China, India and Japan, which have the right to manufacture it since 2014.
The efficacy of Corona treatment
El-Shennawi pointed out that the efficacy of Aviravir is very great in the first days of infection with the Coronavirus, so the most beneficiaries of it are those who isolate themselves at home as soon as their infection is confirmed without waiting for the availability of a bed in one of the isolation hospitals.
On the other hand, the head of the Egyptian Center for Drug Studies, Statistics and Addiction Control Ali Abdullah explains that the original drug came from Japan, which manufactured it in 2014 to counter influenza and severe colds.
The treatment has proven - according to Abdullah's statement to Al-Jazeera Net - great success in facing viral diseases related to the respiratory system, which earned him a good reputation in this field.
second opinion
On the other hand, Ihab Bahi, a respiratory disease specialist, doubted the speed with which the drug was approved as a treatment for people with Coronavirus, despite the success of initial clinical trials.
Bahi added to Al-Jazeera Net that the cases in which it was proven that the drug was successful were in the early days of the injury, in which the chances of recovery from it are already great, due to the components of the treatment protocol recommended by the patient.
He added, "The officials of the state's health file had to be patient in offering the treatment before making sure of its sufficient efficacy, but the state’s eagerness to relieve pressure on government hospitals may be a reason to speed up," he said.
Japanese of origin
When the new Corona virus "Covid 19" appeared, I tested this drug in Japan in treating the infected, and when I found reasonable results, I sent it to about 50 countries - including Egypt - to test its ability to combat the virus in different geographical and ethnic areas, according to Abdullah.
Egypt has conducted clinical trials on the drug to treat cases infected with Covid-19, and health decision-makers in Egypt have settled on its use as a treatment for those infected with the virus, but without announcing specific numbers or ratios for the success of treatment, and then the final decision to put it in pharmacies to be available to citizens.
Aveiravir price
The pharmacist, Karim Hussein, confirmed that he will not deal with "Faviravir" from the first glance and will not ask the distributing company for it.
This is referred to for two reasons, the first of which is the price of the medicine, which is known to exceed one thousand Egyptian pounds (about $ 63), and it will not guarantee that citizens will accept this price.
The second reason is that we still live in a "semi-state" in which the law is not enforced, and drug manufacturers are reaping huge profits, without incurring any responsibility with pharmacists who are only exposed to scraps of profits, Hussein told Al-Jazeera Net.
Hussein nodded to the "Vaxigrip" vaccine, which arose about him and everyone raced to ask about it as a vaccine against influenza, and when pharmacists got it to sell it for 170 pounds, they were surprised that the Ministry of Health put it in the health centers for 50 pounds only.
And when the pharmacists tried to return it to the pharmaceutical company, I strongly refused despite the law that compels the producing companies to accept returned and expired medicines, and Hussein wondered what compels me to accept an expensive drug and I do not guarantee its distribution, not even returning it to the company if it remains until its expiration date.
right decision
While Samir Mina, the owner of a pharmacy close to an isolation hospital, assures Corona patients that offering treatment in pharmacies is a very correct decision, indicating that the patients' families do not stop asking about the existence of treatment for their families even if it is expensive.
Mina told Al-Jazeera Net that the eagerness that he saw a lot in the eyes of those seeking a treatment that calms even the suffering of those infected with the Coronavirus cannot refuse treatment because of its price, especially in light of the inability of isolation hospitals sometimes to provide treatment even to some patients inside them.
Claims to support treatment
Al-Jazeera Net polled the opinions of a number of citizens about the price of treatment, and the answers were unanimous that those who are forced to use treatment as a result of their infection with the virus will buy it compulsorily, and will try to measure its price in any way.
Some of them called on the state to consider poor cases and those without income, and to treat them at the expense of the state or in isolation hospitals, while others demanded state support for the price of treatment, or at least to impose a compulsory price on the drug that takes into account the profit of the drug-producing company, but in a reasonable and non-exaggerated manner, so that treatment is available at a price. Quite appropriate.