WHO suspends trial of hydroxychloroquine as Covid-19 treatment over safety concerns

GENEVA

:

The World Health Organization

said Monday that it had "temporarily" suspended clinical trials of

hydroxychloriquine

as a

potential treatment

for COVID-19 being carried out across a

range

of countries as a precautionary measure.

The decision came after the

publication last week

of a study in the Lancet indicating that the using the drug on COVID-19 patients could increase their likelihood of dying, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference, adding that the WHO-backed trials had been "suspended while the safety is reviewed."