The Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), which is in charge of the country's public health sector, said on Friday that the Latin American nation would temporarily halt the use of the antimalarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, and the combination drug for HIV, Lopinavir-Ritonavir, as treatments for COVID-19
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th May, 2020) The Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), which is in charge of the country's public health sector, said on Friday that the Latin American nation would temporarily halt the use of the antimalarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, and the combination drug for HIV, Lopinavir-Ritonavir, as treatments for COVID-19.
According to the CCSS' press release, the country's central committee for pharmacological therapy (CCF) has issued recommendations to restrict the usage of the two drugs.
CCSS Head Physician Mario Ruiz Cubillo said that the decision is only temporary, and was made after the CCF researched the effectiveness of these drugs against the coronavirus.
Last week's study in The Lancet medical journal suggested that coronavirus patients who received hydroxychloroquine were dying at higher rates than other individuals with the disease. In the wake of this information, the World Health Organization announced that it was temporarily halting its clinical trials on the drug. France, Italy and Belgium have since banned the use of antimalarial drugs for treating COVID-19 carriers.
Costa Rica has so far confirmed 1,000 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths since the start of the outbreak.
