The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Ukraine’s Health Ministry about risk of experimental treatment of Covid-19 as Ukrayinska Pravda reported.
The WHO warns Health Minister Maksym Stepanov about insecurities of experimental treatment, reminding that protocol approved by order 762, includes drugs, which efficiency against Covid-19 is not proved.
The decision to include them was actively discussed in the professional environment, patient organizations of Ukraine as the drugs are well-known by their serious side effects.
“WHO would like to remind you that the use of investigational anti-Covid-19 therapeutics should be done under ethically approved, randomized controlled trials (RCT) only. The therapeutics included in the protocol, namely Lopinavir/ritonavir, chloroquine phosphate, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir and tocilizumab, are yet to be appraised during above-mentioned RCT before they can be licensed and approved for clinical use,” the message said.
The organization reminded that if it impossible to hold clinical trials, patients are treated according to MEURI protocol developed by the WHO for cases of treatment with experimental drugs.
Besides, it is mentioned that the use of hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) for treatment of coronavirus has limited conclusiveness and the organizations decided to make ‘a step back and involve a group of experts to develop documents and consider feasibility of including it in the treatment protocol’.
As we reported, Ukraine’s Ministry of Health is working to purchase the Remdesivir drug which doctors consider effective against coronavirus, in the United States and deliver to Ukraine.
