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 Published Tuesday, June 2, 2020
of hydroxychloroquine to Brazil
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services
On Sunday the White House announced the U.S. Government has delivered two million doses of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to the people of Brazil.
According to the White House statement, the U.S. will also be sending 1,000 ventilators to the South American country.
HCQ will be used as a prophylactic to help defend Brazil’s nurses, doctors, and healthcare professionals against the virus, according to the statement. It will also be used to treat Brazilians who become infected, said the White House.
Also, the U.S. government informed that "in continuation of the two countries’ longstanding collaboration on health issues, we are announcing a joint United States-Brazilian research effort that will include randomized controlled clinical trials. "
According to the statement, these trials will help further evaluate the safety and efficacy of HCQ for both prophylaxis and the early treatment of the coronavirus.
Both the U.S. and Brazil will remain in close coordination in the shared fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing regional response to safeguard public health, further limiting the spread of the coronavirus, advancing the early development of a vaccine, and saving lives, said the White House.
President Donald J. Trump and President Jair Bolsonaro, having spoken twice since March, are to continue their work together to address the coronavirus pandemic said the U.S. government in its statement.
As of Monday night, the pandemic has killed 105,147 patients in the U.S. and 29,937 patients in Brazil according to recent statistics reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
In Costa Rica, the use of the hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for covid-19 patients was suspended since May 28 after the recommendation of the Central Committee for Pharmacotherapy, according to Social Security.
This was a precautionary measure, based on updated scientific information, recommended by the Committee for the temporary suspension of hydroxychloroquine treatment and the withdrawal of lopinavir-ritonavir administration for covid-19, said the Social Security in its statement.
In April, the Switzerland- based pharmaceutical company Novartis donated 108,000 hydroxychloroquine tablets to Social Security. The donation also included 5,000 units of surgical masks and 5,000 pairs of gloves, which were purchased for internal use by Novartis personnel and transferred to Social Security.
The donation made by the pharmaceutical company is made without any compensation requirement and any requirement of past or future purchase by the Social Security said authorities. They will not receive any monetary benefit from Social Security for this donation.
However, Social Security would pay customs, import, and transportation costs of the medication to warehouses.
According to Social Security, this medication is regularly used to combat malaria, autoimmune diseases like lupus and chronic polyarthritis.
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Should the Brazilian government follow the WHO recommendations to not apply the hydroxychloroquine treatment in its patients with covid-19? We would like to know your
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