Trump Claim That Malaria Drugs Treat Coronavirus Sparks Warnings, Shortages

Health officials across the world are issuing warnings over the use of antimalarial drugs after President Trump’s comments about treating the coronavirus with them sparked panic-buying and overdoses.

In recent days, thousands of consumers across Africa and South Asia rushed to stockpile chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, drugs that are usually used to combat malaria, vacuuming up supplies in cities in the developing world, sending prices skyrocketing and prompting panicked warnings from local authorities.

In the U.S. and some other developed countries, meantime, some doctors have started to prescribe the drugs against the coronavirus, sparking heated ethical debates because their efficacy has yet to be demonstrated in full-scale clinical studies.

At issue, health officials said, is how to reconcile the pace of rigorous scientific research with the exponential spread of the infection.

“There is no known dosage for Covid-19 and whether it can actually cure it, it’s safer to avoid chloroquine,” said Dr. Chris Kaganda, a Ugandan public health expert, referring to the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. “But you know these are desperate times.”