The UK government has confirmed it will not be recommending taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine – which US President Donald Trump has said he is doing – as a preventive treatment to avoid contracting coronavirus.
Following Mr Trump’s revelation that he is taking the drug on Monday, Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “It’s not something our own medical experts are recommending.
“I can only set our own medical advice and it’s not something that we recommend doing.”
The UK’s Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued guidance in March warning that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are “not licensed to treat Covid-19 related symptoms or prevent infection”.
The MHRA said clinical trials were ongoing to test the drugs in the treatment of coronavirus, but no conclusions have been reached.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also warned that the drugs have “not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing Covid-19”.
Hydroxychloroquine can cause “abnormal heart rhythms” and ventricular tachycardia, which refers to a “dangerously rapid heart rate”, added the FDA.
Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, has said she has concerns about the "morbidly obese" president taking the drug.
Downing Street has also made it clear the UK will not follow Mr Trump in his threat to withdraw funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The president threatened to permanently withdraw the US and its funding from the WHO in a letter to the organisation’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus.
The Trump administration demanded the WHO “demonstrate independence from China” and accused it of taking “repeated missteps” in its response to the pandemic.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman said: “It will be a matter for the US. But we are clear on the important role the WHO has in leading the international response to coronavirus, and we have no plans to stop funding the WHO.”
Additional reporting by agencies
