The final decision about the dangers and benefits of hydroxychloroquine was made immediately
ILLUSTRATION. Logi outside the World Health Organization (WHO) Building during an executive board meeting discussing the new coronavirus in Geneva, Switzerland, February 6, 2020. REUTERS / Denis Balibouse
Source: Reuters | Editor: SS Kurniawan
KONTAN.CO.ID – ZURICH. The World Health Organization (WHO) promised a rapid review of data on hydroxychloroquine in mid-June, after safety concerns prompted them to stop using the malaria drug in trials on Covid-19 patients.
President of the United States (US) Donald Trump and others have pushed for hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for the new coronavirus, the cause of Covid-19. However, WHO on Monday (25/5) temporarily stopped a multi-country trial titled Solidarity on the drug.
A study published in the British medical journal The Lancet found patients taking hydroxychloroquine had increased mortality and irregular heartbeats, prompting WHO intervention.
Also Read: WHO has stopped trials of hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19 patients, what’s wrong?
“The final decision regarding the harm, benefit or lack of benefit of hydroxychloroquine will be made after the Data Security Monitoring Board reviews the evidence,” WHO said in a statement on Tuesday (26/5). “Hopefully (the decision will come out) in mid-June”.
“Those who have been in studies in 17 countries at this time with thousands of patients (Covid-19) who have started using hydroxychloroquine can stop their treatment,” the WHO was quoted as saying. Reuters.
Newly registered COVID-19 patients will receive other treatment therapies WHO is currently evaluating in the Solidarity clinical trial, including Gilead Science’s remdesivir and AbbVie’s KalV / Aluvia.
Also Read: Brazil continues to use hydroxychloroquine, even though WHO has stopped testing
Separate trials of hydroxychloroquine, including a study of 440 patients in the US by Swiss drug maker Novartis, are continuing, even as the WHO has slowed down. Novartis and rival Sanofi have pledged to donate tens of millions of doses of the drug, also used in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, if proven effective and safe for Covid-19.
Novartis said the Lancet study, which included 100,000 people, was only “observational” and was unable to show a causal link between hydroxychloroquine and side effects. “We need randomized and controlled clinical trials to clearly understand the efficacy and safety,” said a Novartis spokesperson. Reuters.
