Study Highlights Disparities in COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines
A recent study reveals significant variations in COVID-19 therapeutic guidelines among different countries, compared to recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO). This study, published in BMJ Global Health, analyzed national guidelines from 109 WHO member states to assess their alignment with WHO standards.
The analysis revealed that many national guidelines (NGs) deviated substantially from WHO recommendations, especially in low-resource countries. Researchers found that 93% of NGs included one or more medications that had failed randomized trials or were unauthorized by the WHO. Additionally, despite strong evidence of their effectiveness, only 10% of NGs recommended corticosteroids for severe COVID-19 illness.
Researchers further categorized countries based on their GDP per capita, Human Development Index, and Global Health Security Index and found that NGs from low-resource countries exhibited the most significant gaps in adherence to WHO guidelines. This highlights the challenges faced by these countries in accessing effective and evidence-based COVID-19 treatments.
The study also noted that a substantial proportion of NGs (84%) did not categorize COVID-19 severity according to WHO definitions, and only 9.2% incorporated severity criteria equivalent to those used by the WHO. The range of therapies included in the NGs also varied widely, with some recommending as many as 22 medications, while the WHO guidelines prescribe only ten.
These findings underscore the need for standardized procedures for generating NGs for infectious diseases. By ensuring that NGs are developed based on the best available evidence, countries can improve the quality of COVID-19 treatment and reduce the disparities in access to effective therapies, particularly in low-resource settings.
