WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump said he is no longer taking anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible Covid-19 treatment.
Trump repeatedly touted hydroxychloroquine as effective in the treatment of the deadly disease.
In an interview broadcast on Sunday, the President said he completed taking a two-week course of the medicine.
Defending his decision to take the drug, Trump told Sinclair Broadcasting: 'Well, I've heard tremendous reports about it. Many people think it saved their lives. Doctors come out with reports. You had a study in France, you had a study in Italy that were incredible studies,'
'I believe in it enough that I took a program because I had two people in the White House that tested positive,' he added.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has suspended trials of hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for coronavirus amid safety concerns.
It comes a week after a study in The Lancet underrated the benefits of hydroxychloroquine in treating coronavirus patients.
According to the report in the medical journal, it might even prove dangerous than as a cure for the disease.
The United States and some other countries are using Hydroxychloroquine as a life-saving measure against the coronavirus, but there is no conclusive scientific evidence that the tablets can cure the infection from the novel pathogen.
U.S. hospitals are stockpiling Hydroxychloroquine after Trump called the drug a 'game changer' in the treatment of the coronavirus.
India, which is one of the major manufacturers of the medicine, exported it to the United States on Trump's request. He was so badly in need of the medicine that he even threatened of repercussions on New Delhi if it doesn't respond favorably.
Hydroxychloroquine is used to prevent and treat acute attacks of malaria. It is a chemotherapeutic agent that acts against erythrocytic forms of malarial parasites.
It is also used to treat discoid or systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis in patients whose symptoms have not improved with other treatments.
This medication is sometimes prescribed for other uses.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in March warned against the experimental usage of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19.
But in a U-turn on Tuesday, the government agency said it found the drug very effective and having less side effects for prophylaxis consumption for COVID-19.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX