Health

WHO suspends hydroxychloroquine trials over safety concerns

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 02:48 pm

The World Health Organization says it is temporarily halting its clinical trials that use hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients over published concerns that the drug may do more harm than good.

The move comes after the medical journal The Lancet reported on Friday May 22 that patients getting hydroxychloroquine were dying at higher rates than other coronavirus patients.

The WHO has 3,500 patients from 17 countries enrolled in what it calls the Solidarity Trial. This is an effort overseen by the WHO to find new treatments for COVID-19.

The patients in the trial have been randomly assigned to be treated with hydroxychloroquine which is a common malaria drug, or 3 other experimental drugs for treating COVID-19 in various combinations. Only the hydroxychloroquine part of the trial is being put on hold.

“The review will consider data collected so far in the Solidarity Trial and in particular robust, randomized available data to adequately evaluate the potential benefits and harms from this drug [hydroxycholoroquine],” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during an online press conference from Geneva on Monday.

The WHO’s chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, says the review was prompted by the article in The Lancet, which was not a randomized control trial but still large.

Hydroxychloroquine has been touted by US President Donald Trump and others as an effective treatment for COVID-19.

Mr Trump said last week that he was taking the drug to help prevent infection, although he later announced that he had stopped taking it.

(Agencies)

Albert Echetah

Recent Posts

Africa and GCC Trade Doubles to $121 Billion

Trade between African and GCC countries stands at $ 121 billion in 2023, double of what it was in 2016.…

December 21, 2024

Families in Mayotte rebuilding their homes complain of lack of help

Family members struggling after one week after  of Cyclone Chido ripped through the French island territory of Mayotte expressed helplessness…

December 21, 2024

Ethiopian PM Inaugurates UAE-Funded Orphanage in Oromia

The United Arab Emirates has launched its orphanage project in Ethiopia's Oromia region on the orders of President Sheikh Mohamed…

December 21, 2024

A Rising Femicide Threat, Kenya’s Call to End Gender Based Violence

In just four months, 100 women have been killed, the majority by males they knew including spouses. Prime Cabinet Secretary…

December 20, 2024

Actor C Confion has passed away

The Ghanaian entertainment industry is in deep mourning following the sudden death of Bright Owusu, better known as C Confion.…

December 20, 2024

South Africa: 512 Accident Deaths and 941 Arrested for Drunk Driving Just on December Month

Since the beginning of December more than five hundred people have lost their lives on the nation's highways. Barbara Creecy,…

December 19, 2024

This website uses cookies.