ICMR wrote a letter to the WHO regarding the use of HCQ drugs

New delhi date. May 29, 2020, Friday

The Union Ministry of Health has questioned the World Health Organization's (WHO) advice to stop using the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat patients with coronavirus. Now the country's government agency, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has written to the WHO. It said there was a difference between the Indian and international trial doses of HCQ in the treatment of corona virus patients.

The ICMR says that the Government of India gives 400-400 mg of HCQ in the morning and at night on the first day to treat critically ill patients with corona virus who are admitted to the ICU. They are then given 200-200 mg HCQ morning and evening for another four days. The total dose of the drug given to the patient for five days is 2400 mg.

An unnamed health ministry official told the ministry and the ICMR that they disagreed with the World Health Organization's assessment, saying the biggest difference was the dosage of the drug in India and internationally.

At the international trial, patients are given a dose of 800-800 mg of HCQ twice in six hours, the official said. They are then given a dose of 400-400 mg twice a day for 10 days. That means the patient takes a dose of 9600 mg in 11 days which is four times more than the Indian trial dose.

"This shows that the dose of HCQ is more effective and appropriate in our treatment protocol," the official said. Patients are also recovering from low doses of the drug. The ICMR has written a letter to the WHO regarding the initial success of recovering Kovid-19 patients through HCQ drugs.

The letter was written by the National Coordinator of the World Health Organization's Solidarity Trial, Dr. Sheila Godbole has written to Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan. In it, he said there was no reason to postpone the trial for safety concerns.