GENEVA (World) – The World Health Organization suspended using hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug, in COVID-19 patients owing to safety concerns, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
U.S. President Donald Trump touted hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Trump announced that he has been taking the drug to help prevent coronavirus infection.
“The executive group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity trial while the safety data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board.”
– Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General
The WHO Director-General announced that other arms of the trial is a major international initiative and are continuing.
In the past, WHO recommended against hydroxychloroquine use to treat or prevent coronavirus infections, except as part of clinical trials.
The WHO emergencies programme head, Dr Mike Ryan, said the decision to suspend hydroxychloroquine trials had been taken out of “an abundance of caution”.
(Photo syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.
