Bolsonaro: Right-wingers take malaria medicine

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro shares the enthusiasm for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine with his American role model, President Donald Trump. They have pointed to ongoing studies that are investigating whether malaria drugs can have any effect on the coronavirus - but have not yet produced any sure results.

Trump attracted a lot of attention when he said at the beginning of the week that he was taking hydroxychloroquine on a preventive basis against the virus, despite the US drug authority's FDA warning of side effects.

But on Wednesday, the US president should have said he will stop with the crippled treatment, as The Hill reports. In Brazil, the president has instead succeeded in getting his government to recommend a broader use of the medicine, even outside clinical trials.

There, doctors in the public health care system are recommended to prescribe either chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine together with the antibiotic azithromycin for patients with early symptoms of a coronavirus infection. If the doctor and the patient choose to try the cure, the patient needs to sign a document that is aware of the possible dangerous side effects.

The guidelines have been developed under the new Minister of Health, General Eduardo Pazuello. He has replaced Nelson Teich, a trained physician, who resigned last week after less than a month on the post - reportedly after opposing Bolsonaro's desire to expand the use of malaria drugs.

The World Health Organization reiterated on Wednesday that hydroxychloroquine should only be used in the framework of research studies.

The same assessment is made by the Brazilian Medical Association for Infectious Diseases (Sociedade Brasileira de Infectologia). The malaria drugs have not yet been proven to be effective against covid-19 and "should not be routinely recommended," the association writes in a statement following the new Department of Health guidelines.

The President defends the new guidelines by not forcing any patient to take the malaria medication.

-What is democracy? If you don't want it, don't take it, the president said in an interview Tuesday, adding in joking tone:

- Those on the right take chloroquine.