WHO announced this Monday that it'll be temporarily stopping the hydroxychloroquine portion of a global study into experimental treatments for COVID-19, saying that its experts need to review all available evidence to date.

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a presser on Monday that in light of a paper published last week in the Lancet, that showed people taking hydroxychloroquine were at higher risk of death and cardiac issues than those that were not, the organization has decided that it's better to temporarily press pause on the hydroxychloroquine portion of its global study.  He said:

"This concern relates to the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine in COVID-19."

He further added:

"I wish to reiterate that these drugs are accepted as generally safe for use in patients with autoimmune diseases or malaria."

The comments from Dr. Tedros came just days after the largest study so far on hydroxychloroquine's effectiveness at treating COVID-19 found that hospitalized patients who were treated with hydroxychloroquine had a much higher risk of dying than those who didn't receive the drug.

The study of more than 96,000 hospitalized patients was published in the medical journal called The Lancet, and the study's authors couldn't find any noticeable benefits from the medication. The study wasn't definitive, though - it was observational, rather than a randomized controlled trial.

It is to be noted that the drug is part of the "Solidarity" international clinical trial sponsored by the WHO in 17 countries to help find an effective treatment of the disease caused by novel Coronavirus. The Solidarity Trial will compare four treatment options against standard of care, to assess their relative effectiveness against COVID-19.
By enrolling patients in multiple countries, the Trial aims to rapidly discover whether any of the drugs slow disease progression or improve survival of the patients. Other drugs can be added based on emerging evidence.

Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan explained that the trial is overseen by a board of experts and an independent data safety monitor. According to her, the steering committee met over the weekend and decided in light of uncertainty about the drug, that it's better to be on the safe side so they suspended enrollment into the hydroxychloroquine arm of the trial. The new plan is for the board to look into data from the trial so far, and continue to gather evidence on efficacy and safety of the drug.

Remember, Hydroxychloroquine is the same drug that USA President Donald Trump touted as the possible treatment of COVID-19 a couple of months back and people started taking the drug. Even as recently as this month Trump divulged that he was taking it as a precautionary measure against the virus. But reports say that he has stopped taking it now.

Another WHO official, Executive Director Dr. Michael Ryan, said in the press conference that stopping the drug trial is only a temporary measure, and the board will meet again in about a couple of weeks to review the latest data. The process is standard practice, and if no danger is found randomized use will continue.