Brazil’s Federal Council of Medicine has authorized the use of hydroxychloroquine, even though there is no scientific evidence that the drug is an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus.
The announcement was made by Mauro Luiz Britto Ribeiro, CFM president, after a meeting with President Jair Bolsonaro and with Health Minister Nelson Teich.
During the meeting, Ribeiro gave the council’s opinion on the administration of the substance in people with Covid-19.
Bolsonaro is an enthusiast of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for the treatment of the disease. He has already defended that they are used even in the initial stage of the disease, and his defense of medications was one of the central points of the conflict with former minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who was against the broad recommendation of the remedy for the coronavirus.
“There is no strong scientific evidence to support the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid. It is a drug used for other diseases for 70 years. Still, in relation to the treatment of Covid, there is no prospective and randomized clinical trial, carried out by groups of respected researchers, published cutting-edge journals, pointing out any benefit from the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment ”, Ribeiro said.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon