Trump-backed anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is the most effective coronavirus treatment currently available, finds international poll of 6,000 doctors
[Don't know why daily mail have to add trump to every headline possible]
- Majority of 6,200 doctors from 30 nations said malaria drug was most effective
- Doctors across Europe, the US and China have been given licence to prescribe
- But the UK is dragging its feet until clinical trials show it is safe and effective
- World Health Organization claims that no medicine can prevent or cure virus
With a spiralling crisis and no cure in sight, doctors in Europe, the US and China have been given licence to prescribe the promising drug to COVID-19 patients.
But the UK has prevented clinicians from dishing out hydroxychloroquine - a form of chloroquine - until clinical trials are completed.
Just 13 per cent of UK clinicians surveyed said they had prescribed chloroquine to coronavirus patients, presumably through private clinics. [this is my feeling that people like prince charles, bojo have had the option of taking it, but not the average citizen using the govt controlled nhs]
They are also prescribed on the NHS to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus and have been used since the 1940s.
They work against those conditions by dampening the body's immune response when it overreacts and could be beneficial for coronavirus patients in the same way.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'Clinical trials are already underway in the UK to assess whether existing medicines such as hydroxychloroquine are suitable for treating COVID-19.
'Until we have clear, definitive evidence these treatments are safe and effective, they should only be used within a clinical trial.
'People should continue to follow NHS advice and stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.'
-----------
This seems very unfair to me, why shouldn't adults and their doctors have at least the option when doctors elsewhere in other countries are seeing results using it.
The science makes sense even to a non scientific person like myself, that this virus causes a massive inflammatory response in some people and this drug dampens down the immune system/reduces inflammation.