BRASILIA (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Government has sent two million doses of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to Brazil to help the worst-affected country in Latin America treat its coronavirus patients with the drug.
With 514,849 confirmed cases and 29,314 deaths, Brazil is the world's second worst-affected country.
The White House announced the Health Cooperation package on Sunday, the day the number of infections in Brazil passed half a million.
The United States will also soon be sending 1,000 ventilators to Brazil.
The two countries said in a joint statement that HCQ will be used as a prophylactic to help defend Brazil's nurses, doctors, and healthcare professionals against the virus. It will also be used as a therapeutic to treat Brazilians who become infected.
The United States and Brazil will remain in close coordination to advance the early development of a vaccine against the deadly disease.
The White House also announced a joint United States-Brazilian research effort that will include randomized controlled clinical trials. These trials will help further evaluate the safety and efficacy of HCQ for both prophylaxis and the early treatment of the coronavirus.
US President Donald Trump and his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro have forged personal ties with each other, and spoken twice since March.
Last month, the Brazilian government authorized anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for treating Covid-19 patients.
Trump repeatedly touted hydroxychloroquine as effective in the treatment of the deadly disease, and even completed a course of the medication.
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.
The World Health Organization had suspended trials of hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for coronavirus amid safety concerns.
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.
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