Uganda is using Hydroxychloroquine to tread COVID-19 patients

By; Francis Lubega

09^th April 2020

The Health Ministry has revealed that they are using hydroxy-chloroquine to treat COVID-19 or Cornavirus patients in the country.

Hydroxy-chloroquine is an anti-malarial drug used to treat mild forms of malaria, but can also be used to treat lupus and arthritis.

Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng the Health minister told the press in Kampala, that even if hydroxychloroquine is still undergoing testing, it has the ability to stop the spread of the disease by stabilising red blood cells so that uptake of oxygen by haemoglobin is promoted.

This is important since the virus affects the lungs by attacking receptors and entering the blood cells and stopping uptake of oxygen hence causing respiratory difficulty. Dr Aceng says the drug has helped to improve the situation of Uganda’s patient zero, who has been receiving treatment since March 21.

She says the index case no longer has a temperature or any symptoms after using the drug. He is stable and likely to be released next week since he no longer has any symptoms.

Uganda has a total of 53 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, currently treated at Mulago National Referral Hospital, Hoima General Hospital, Adjumani hospital, Entebbe Referral Hospital and Masaka Regional Referral Hospital.

According to pharmacists, hydroxychloroquine is a much better stable drug compared to Chloroquine that was used as an anti-malarial drug in the late 90s.

Small trials that have taken place in France and China have shown that some patients respond to hydroxychloroquine. It is also being used to treat patients in the United States of America. Despite being successful, Dr Samuel Opio, the secretary of the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda warns people on the usage of the drug without supervised usage.

Usage of the hydroxychloroquine and other three drugs is undergoing review by the World Health Organisation. The international trial with over 80 participating countries will test the effectiveness of chloroquine, Remdesivir-an Ebola drug and Ritonavir/Lopinavir currently used for HIV.

Dr Lisa Nelson, the director of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Uganda says that there’s no evidence that the drug works although studies are still taking place.

In situations where people might not respond to hydroxychloroquine if COVID-19 symptoms increase and they experience difficulty in breathing, they would need to be connected to a ventilator to be assisted with breathing. Currently, Uganda only had 57 ventilator machines in the entire country.