tedros adhanom ghebreyesus the world health organizations who directorgeneral said that a clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine hcq on covid19 patients has come to a temporary pause while the safety data of the the antimalaria drug was being reviewedaccording to the who chief the lancet medical journal on may 22 had published an observational study on hcq and chloroquine and its effects on covid19 patients that have been hospitalized reports xinhua news agencythe authors of the study reported that among patients receiving the drug when used alone or with a macrolide they estimated a higher mortality ratethe executive group of the solidarity trial representing 10 of the participating countries met on saturday may 23 and has agreed to review a comprehensive analysis and critical appraisal of all evidence available globally tedros said in a virtual press conference on mondaythe review will consider data collected so far in the solidarity trial and in particular robust randomized available data to adequately evaluate the potential benefits and harms from this drug he saidthe executive group has implemented a temporary pause of the hcq arm within the solidarity trial while the safety data is reviewed by the data safety monitoring board the other arms of the trial are continuing tedros addedwho initiated the solidarity trial a plan to evaluate the safety and efficacy of four drugs and drug combinations against covid19 more than two months ago which include hcqaccording to the who over 400 hospitals in 35 countries are actively recruiting patients and nearly 3500 patients have been enrolled from 17 countries under the solidarity trialtedros added that the safety concern over the drug related only to the use of hcq and chloroquine in covid19 and these drugs are accepted as generally safe for use in patients with autoimmune diseases or malariawho will provide further updates as we know more he added