The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday that it has suspended temporarily
as a precaution, clinical trials with hydroxychloroquine which it is carrying out with its partners in several countries.
This decision follows the publication of a study Friday in the medical journal The Lancet deeming ineffective even harmful the use of chloroquine or its derivatives such as hydroxychloroquine against Covid-19, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a virtual press conference, adding that the suspension had been decided on Saturday.
WHO launched clinical trials more than two months ago, including hydroxychloroquine, called “Solidarity”, to find an effective treatment for Covid-19.
Increased risk of death and arrhythmia
Currently, more than 400 hospitals in 35 countries are actively recruiting patients and nearly 3,500 patients have been recruited in 17 countries
, said the boss of the WHO.
However, according to the vast study published in The Lancet, neither chloroquine nor its derivative hydroxychloroquine have been shown to be effective against Covid-19 in hospital patients, and these molecules even increase the risk of death and cardiac arrhythmia.
The study analyzed data from approximately 96,000 SARS-CoV-2 infected patients admitted to 671 hospitals between December 20, 2019 and April 14, 2020, discharged or deceased since. About 15,000 of them received one of the four combinations (chloroquine alone or combined with the antibiotic, hydroxychloroquine alone or combined with the same antibiotic), then these four groups were compared to the 81,000 patients in the control group n who have not received this treatment.
WHO and partner trials on hydroxychloroquine will be suspended while the data
collected by Solidarity tests be examined
, said Tedros.
This is a temporary measure
, said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, in charge of the WHO Scientific Department.
A “messy” study according to Professor Raoult
Hydroxychloroquine is a derivative of chloroquine, prescribed for several decades against malaria. Known in France as Plaquénil, hydroxychloroquine is prescribed for lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
Hydroxychloroquine has known unprecedented fame since the end of February since French professor Didier Raoult released several studies, which he says show the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine combined with the antibiotic azithromycin. The professor from Marseille has also called the study published by The Lancet “freaky”.
The excitement around hydroxychloroquine gained momentum when US President Donald Trump made himself its apostle, to the point of taking it daily as a preventive measure.
In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro is convinced of its effects, to the point that the Ministry of Health has recommended its use for all mildly affected patients.
Monday, the head of WHO wanted to recall that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are recognized as generally safe for patients with autoimmune diseases or malaria
.
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