GHS to publish outcome of Hydroxychloroquine use on coronavirus patients

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has said it is monitoring the performance of Hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19 patients and will soon share the data with the public.

Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General of the GHS, announced this in Accra on Tuesday when he presented the country's COVID-19 case count and management update.

"We as a country, we're using Hydroxychloroquine and monitoring the outcomes and very soon we'll come out and share with the public by comparing how those using it are faring to those on Zithromax and Zinc alone," he said.

Dr Kuma-Aboagye said using Zinc helped to protect one's mucosal lining and prevent the virus from entering the respiratory system whilst Zithromax protected secondary and bacterial infections.

On June 1 and 15, this year, the United States’ Food and Drugs Authority issued a communiqué indicating a scientific research had shown that using Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine on COVID-19 patients caused heart rhythm problems and other safety issues, including lymph system disorders, kidney injuries and liver failures.

It added that such medication did not bring any benefit to COVID-19 patients or speed up recovery.

Many countries have, however, continued to use Hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19 patients and the medication has been helpful.

Meanwhile, Ghana has recorded over 29,000 recoveries, representing 89 percent out of the cumulative figure of 34,621 cases of COVID-19.

The active cases remain 3,617 with 69 per cent being asymptomatic and 31 per cent symptomatic.