WHO Resumes Clinical Trials of Malaria Drug 'Hydroxychloroquine' for COVID-19 (Update)

WHO Data Safety Monitoring Board Recommends "No Reason to Amend Protocol"

Hydroxychloroquine / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it will resume clinical trials on 'Hydroxychloroquine,' a malaria treatment that became a hot topic after U.S. President Donald Trump revealed he was taking it as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the 3rd (local time), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, explained the reason for resuming the clinical trials during a virtual press briefing held at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, stating, "Based on the available mortality data, members of the Data Safety Monitoring Board recommended that there was no reason to amend the trial protocol."

Director-General Ghebreyesus also added that the clinical trial execution group accepted the recommendation from the Data Safety Monitoring Board and supported continuing the trials in all sectors, including those involving hydroxychloroquine.

Earlier, on the 25th of last month, Director-General Tedros explained that the Data Safety Monitoring Board had temporarily suspended the hydroxychloroquine study during the WHO 'Solidarity Trial,' which tests the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 treatments, while reviewing safety concerns.

This decision was based on research results published by the British medical journal 'The Lancet.' At that time, The Lancet released a study investigating the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine on over 96,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients across 671 hospitals, revealing that patients who took the treatment had a 34% increased risk of death.