The controversial remedy was strongly promoted by the Trump administration.
A panel of the World Health Organization now recommends the use of hydroxychloroquine, the controversial drug strongly promoted by the Trump administration, to treat patients infected with COVID-19.
The International Health Agency announced on Monday that a panel of experts for its guideline development group ‘strongly discourages’ the use of the anti-inflammatory drug, which is often used to treat and prevent malaria, to prevent the new coronavirus.
The drug is no longer a research priority, and rather resources should focus on other “more promising” drugs to prevent COVID-19, according to the press release.
‘High-security evidence’ showed that hydroxychloroquine ‘had no significant effect’ on deaths or hospital admissions, while ‘moderate security evidence’ showed that hydroxychloroquine, according to the WHO, is likely to increase the risk of adverse effects.
The guideline applies to all individuals who do not have COVID-19, whether or not they have been exposed to someone infected.
New recommendations for other drugs will be added to the guideline as they become available, according to the WTO.
Hydroxychloroquine has been aggressively put forward by former President Donald Trump as a promising treatment for the virus, despite a lack of evidence. As early as March 2020, Trump declared the drug a “game changer” as the pandemic escalated, while the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases, Dr Anthony Fauci, called it “ineffective” for the coronavirus.