Morocco’s Hospitals supplied with Chloroquine as Potential COVID-19 Treatment

Morocco’s Ministry of Health decided to supply health facilities across the country with chloroquine and its derivative, hydroxychloroquine, whose tests on patients infected with the coronavirus proved encouraging.

The decision was made after consultations with the technical and scientific committee of the national program for the prevention and control of influenza and acute respiratory infections, the Health Ministry said in a press release.

 

The health department, which has made efforts to ensure the medication’s availability, urges that chloroquine stocks must be managed by the heads of regional supply and pandemic units at the level of regional health directorates.

 

The Ministry of Health emphasized that all prescriptions must be made on a normative prescription including all necessary information concerning the dose and instructions for usage. The drug use will be limited to cases admitted to hospitals.

As the drug was under clinical trials across the world with many health experts believing chronoquil may prove an effective treatment to cure people with COVID-19, Morocco, in an anticipatory move, had purchased the entire stock of Nivaquine, an antimalarial drug produced based on chloroquine.

 

According to press reports, the Moroccan authorities bought all the stock of Nivaquine, produced in by the Sanofi laboratories in its factories in Casablanca.

Morocco also placed an order for an additional quantity of Nivaquine from Sanofi laboratories.

 

Morocco has confirmed 143 novel coronavirus patients as of March 23. Five patients have recovered, and four have died.

Coronavirus Cases worldwide reached 392,435 and deaths 17,148.