Geneva - The World Health Organization has
suspended testing the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in
Covid-19 patients due to safety concerns, WHO Director General
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.
Hydroxycholoroquine has been touted by Donald Trump and
others as a possible treatment for the disease caused by the
novel coronavirus. The U.S. President has said he was taking the
drug to help prevent infection.
"The executive group has implemented a temporary pause of
the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity trial while the
safety data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board,"
Tedros told an online briefing.
He said the other arms of the trial - a major international
initiative to hold clinical tests of potential treatments for
the virus - were continuing.
The WHO has previously recommended against using
hydroxychloroquine to treat or prevent coronavirus infections,
except as part of clinical trials.
Dr. Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergencies programme, said
the decision to suspend trials of hydroxychloroquine had been
taken out of "an abundance of caution".