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Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)

2020 APR 7

Preliminary   > Social Justice   >   Health   >   Health

Why in news?

India at the request of US President cleared the export of 35.82 lakh tablets of hydroxychloroquine to the US along with nine metric tons of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) required in the manufacturing of the drug.

About Hydroxychloroquine

  • Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is an anti-malarial drug similar to chloroquine (one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs) but with lesser side-effects.
  • It is fairly inexpensive. Previously it could be sold over the counter, now the Union Health Ministry on March moved it to Schedule H1 which can be sold on prescription only.
  • The drug shot to fame as it is shown to have shortened the time to clinical recovery of COVID-19 patients. However, many of these are in small lab-controlled testing and no proper human trials have been conducted to determine its efficacy.
  • The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has cleared HCQ to be used as a prophylaxis or preventive medication by doctors, nurses and other health staff.

 

Prelims Question

Which of the following statements regarding ‘Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ’ is incorrect?

a) It is an effective anti-malarial drug.

­b­) It has lesser side effects compared to chloroquine (anti-malarial drug).

c) It can be used in the management of COVID-19 patients.

d) It can be sold over the counter without prescription.

 

Answer to the Prelims Question