Coronavirus treatment with Chloroquine: Pakistan TV channels raise hopes with incorrect reporting

Internet users in Pakistan started started looking for chloroquine after a couple of local TV channels incorrectly reported that a new vaccine has been developed to treat coronavirus.

The private broadcasters in their reported cited US President Donald Trump who recently spoke about how an anti-Malaria drug was being used to treat COVID-19.

The TV reports left the people wondering about the Pakistani brand name for chloroquine

According to a report published by marketwatch.com “The drug in question is chloroquine. It is sold under the brand name Aralen and in generic form. It is also available in a different formulation as hydroxychloroquine under the brand name Plaquenil. In both its chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine formulations, it is approved as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis”.

Speaking at a press conference the US leader said the drug had been approved as a treatment for coronavirus, adding that that it had “gone through the approval process.”

The US president further said that the FDA is “continuing to study the drug.”

FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn , however, contradicted the president saying that while chloroquine has been approved for other indications, it would still need to go through clinical trials.

The debate on the use of the drug has emerged days after Tesla founder Elon Musk advocated of chloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus.

Without providing in depth details, the Pakistani channels made people to believe that a new vaccine to treat the virus has been developed, which is not true since chloroquine is a decades old drug that is used to treat malaria.