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GENEVA, May 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Claims that hydroxychloroquine could prove a viable treatment for Coronavirus have been dealt a new blow after France stopped doctors from using the anti-malarial drug for Covid-19 patients.
But where is it still being used and who is continuing to research it?
U.S. President Donald Trump and others have pushed hydroxychloroquine in recent months as a possible coronavirus treatment.
In the US, the Food and Drug Administration allowed “emergency use” in hospital settings, but warned against using to treat Covid-19 in other settings – apart from clinical trials – because of the risks of heart problems.
Brazil has relaxed restrictions on the drug, allowing it to be used in mild cases as well as for those seriously ill in hospital.
And the Indian government has expanded its use as a preventative medicine to all healthcare workers
No clinical study has recommended the drug for coronavirus treatment and the World Health Organization this week temporarily suspended its trials over safety fears.
But other studies are under way, including one by Swiss drugmaker Novartis in the US and a global study by the University of Oxford-backed Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Thailand.
Also, Nigeria has vowed to press ahead with clinical trials of the related drug chloroquine despite the WHO decision.
The French government cancelled a decree allowing hospital doctors to administer hydroxychloroquine as a treatment to patients suffering severe forms of COVID-19.
The move, which takes immediate effect, is the first by a country since the World Health Organization said it was pausing a large trial of the malaria drug on COVID-19 patients due to safety concerns.
The cancellation of the decree, which in effect means the drug is now banned for such use, was announced in the government’s official bulletin and confirmed by a statement by the health ministry. It did not refer to the WHO suspension.
France decided at the end of March to allow the use of hydroxychloroquine, which in addition to malaria is approved for treating lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, in specific situations and in hospitals only for treating COVID-19 patients.
British medical journal The Lancet has reported that patients getting hydroxychloroquine had increased death rates and irregular heartbeats, adding to a series of other disappointing results for the drug as a way to treat COVID-19.
No vaccine or treatment has yet been approved to treat COVID-19, which has killed more than 350,000 people globally. — NNN-AGENCIES
