<p>Brazil's health ministry said Monday it would not change its recommendation to treat coronavirus with hydroxychloroquine, despite the World Health Organization deciding to suspend trials of the drug over safety concerns.</p>.<p>Like his US counterpart Donald Trump, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has touted the supposed benefits of hydroxychloroquine and a related drug, chloroquine, against the new coronavirus.</p>.<p>Studies, however, have questioned their safety and efficacy against the disease, including one published Friday in respected medical journal The Lancet that found the drugs actually increased the risk of death.</p>.<p>That led the WHO to <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/clinical-trial-of-hydroxychloroquine-in-covid-19-patients-paused-who-841815.html" target="_blank">suspend a worldwide clinical trial</a> of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.</p>.<p>"We're remaining calm and there will be no change" to the Brazilian guideline issued last week, health ministry official Mayra Pinheiro told a news conference.</p>.<p>The guideline recommended doctors in the public health system prescribe either chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine from the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.</p>.<p>It was issued shortly after the resignation of former health minister Nelson Teich, who reportedly quit over Bolsonaro's insistence on pushing the drugs despite a lack of solid evidence.</p>.<p>He was Brazil's second health minister in less than a month.</p>.<p>Brazil, the Latin American country hit hardest by the pandemic, has emerged as the latest flashpoint, with nearly 375,000 cases -- the second-highest in the world, after the United States -- and more than 23,000 deaths.</p>.<p>Experts say under-testing means the real figures are probably far higher.</p>.<p>Hydroxychloroquine is typically used to treat autoimmune diseases, while chloroquine is generally used against malaria.</p>.<p>Preliminary studies in China and France had generated hope the drugs might be effective against the new coronavirus.</p>.<p>That led governments to buy them in bulk. Trump even said last week he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure, though he said Sunday he had finished his course of treatment.</p>.<p>Pinheiro questioned the Lancet study, which analyzed the medical records of 96,000 patients across hundreds of hospitals.</p>.<p>"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," she said.</p>
<p>Brazil's health ministry said Monday it would not change its recommendation to treat coronavirus with hydroxychloroquine, despite the World Health Organization deciding to suspend trials of the drug over safety concerns.</p>.<p>Like his US counterpart Donald Trump, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has touted the supposed benefits of hydroxychloroquine and a related drug, chloroquine, against the new coronavirus.</p>.<p>Studies, however, have questioned their safety and efficacy against the disease, including one published Friday in respected medical journal The Lancet that found the drugs actually increased the risk of death.</p>.<p>That led the WHO to <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/clinical-trial-of-hydroxychloroquine-in-covid-19-patients-paused-who-841815.html" target="_blank">suspend a worldwide clinical trial</a> of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.</p>.<p>"We're remaining calm and there will be no change" to the Brazilian guideline issued last week, health ministry official Mayra Pinheiro told a news conference.</p>.<p>The guideline recommended doctors in the public health system prescribe either chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine from the onset of COVID-19 symptoms.</p>.<p>It was issued shortly after the resignation of former health minister Nelson Teich, who reportedly quit over Bolsonaro's insistence on pushing the drugs despite a lack of solid evidence.</p>.<p>He was Brazil's second health minister in less than a month.</p>.<p>Brazil, the Latin American country hit hardest by the pandemic, has emerged as the latest flashpoint, with nearly 375,000 cases -- the second-highest in the world, after the United States -- and more than 23,000 deaths.</p>.<p>Experts say under-testing means the real figures are probably far higher.</p>.<p>Hydroxychloroquine is typically used to treat autoimmune diseases, while chloroquine is generally used against malaria.</p>.<p>Preliminary studies in China and France had generated hope the drugs might be effective against the new coronavirus.</p>.<p>That led governments to buy them in bulk. Trump even said last week he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure, though he said Sunday he had finished his course of treatment.</p>.<p>Pinheiro questioned the Lancet study, which analyzed the medical records of 96,000 patients across hundreds of hospitals.</p>.<p>"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," she said.</p>