World Health Organization suspends chloroquine trials

The World Health Organization informed that the international Solidarity trial — which gathered 100 countries to test new drugs against Covid-19 — has suspended research with antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. In Brazil, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation is responsible for carrying out such tests. 

The decision was made after a study involving 96,000 patients published by medical journal Lancet showed chloroquine wasn’t effective and could cause heart issues, such as arrhythmia, leading to a higher mortality rate. 

Even before suspending the trials, WHO authorities were careful towards chloroquine and said the medicine shouldn’t be used outside clinical trials. In Brazil, however, the Health Ministry has published a recommendation for the public health system to prescribe the medicine in Covid-19 patients from the very early stages of the disease onward, going against advice from medical associations. 

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