A WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) panel of international experts in The British Medical Journal Monday said the anti-inflammatory drug hydroxychloroquine should not be used to prevent infection in people who do not have covid-19.

Their strong recommendation is based on high certainty evidence from six randomised controlled trials involving over 6,000 participants with and without known exposure to a person with covid-19 infection.

High certainty evidence showed that hydroxychloroquine had no meaningful effect on death and admission to hospital, while moderate certainty evidence showed that hydroxychloroquine had no meaningful effect on laboratory confirmed covid-19 infection and it probably increases the risk of adverse effects.

Deborah Amuwo reports.