JUST IN: WHO suspends testing of hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 treatment

The World Health Organisation said Monday that it had “temporarily” suspended clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19 being carried out across a range of countries as a precautionary measure.

The decision came after the publication last week of a study in the Lancet indicating that the using the drug on COVID-19 patients could increase their likelihood of dying, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference, adding that the WHO-backed trials had been “suspended while the safety is reviewed.”

“It’s important to continue to gather evidence on the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine.

“We want to use it if it’s safe and efficacious, reduces mortality, reduces the length of hospitalization without increasing adverse events,” WHO Chief Scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, added at the press briefing in Geneva.