Brazil Pushes Forward With Use Of Hydroxychloroquine In Treatment Of COVID-19

Despite the decision of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to halt its trials of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of coronavirus, the Brazilian Ministry of Health has said that it would not reverse its decision to use the drug.

Studies on the use of hydroxychloroquine have cast a shadow of doubt on the use of the drug in the treatment of coronavirus, citing its safety, as it has proven to catalyse mortality rates.

Although, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilian president, and his peer US President, Donald Trump, are big supporters of the use of the drug against the virus.

According to an official from the ministry of health in Brazil, Mayra Pinheiro, stating a guideline issued by the Brazilian Government, “We’re remaining calm and there will be no change."

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The newly set guidelines state that doctors in the employ of the government are to prescribe either hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19, in fact, it should be administered from inception.

Brazil has risen to become the second worst-hit country by the virus just below the United States, beating out Russia. Brazil has almost 375,000 confirmed cases, with over 23,000 deaths.

The country has lost two health ministers in two months over disagreements with the president and the direction to take in tackling the virus.

The most recent resignation was from Nelson Teich who, less than two months into office, resigned after he opposed the decision of the president to prescribe chloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19.

Countering the study made by The Lancet, which analysed the medical history of 96,000 patients in hundreds of hospitals, Pinheiro said, “It wasn’t a clinical trial, it was just a data set collected from different countries, and that doesn’t meet the criteria of a methodologically acceptable study to serve as a reference for any country in the world, including Brazil."