Doctors of subordinate Moscow medical institutions are invited to participate in the study of the drug for the prevention of COVID-19. A medicine called hydroxychloroquine is used for rheumatoid arthritis and malaria.
Moscow doctors are invited to take part in the study of hydroxychloroquine for the prevention of coronavirus on the site doc-covid.ru. It was created on behalf of the head of the Moscow Department of Health Alexei Khripun.
A source close to the health department confirmed that doctors should be given free medications to prevent coronavirus under a decree by Sergei Sobyanin.
To participate in the experiment, doctors need to register on the site by providing personal data and a phone number.
“The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as a prophylaxis for the development of symptoms of COVID-19 in medical professionals who have direct contact with patients positive for COVID-19,” says doc-covid.ru.
The drug is available under the brands Immard, Plaquenil, and Hydroxychloroquine. It is indicated for rheumatoid arthritis, malaria, lupus erythematosus. Earlier, the media reported on its effectiveness in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 – as a result, there was a rush of demand, and the drug disappeared from many pharmacies. Moscow officials have announced a tender for its supply
The site provides a list of 23 clinical trials on its use against coronavirus, which is currently undergoing hydroxychloroquine in different countries. Of these, 11 examine the preventive effect of the drug.
Doctors who agree to the experiment will be given hydroxychloroquine free of charge (200 mg in the morning and evening for 14 days, then 200 mg once a day for three months). Medicines should be given to doctors at the workplace, that is, in the hospital.
On April 2, the Moscow Department of Health announced the purchase of hydroxychloroquine preparations worth 2.6 million rubles. The tender does not indicate to whom the drug is intended – to doctors or patients and from which disease.
According to the recommendations of the Russian Ministry of Health , hydroxychloroquine, like several other drugs, can be used for patients with a diagnosed coronavirus. The document contains a disclaimer: “Currently available information on the results of treatment using these drugs does not allow an unambiguous conclusion about their effectiveness / inefficiency, and therefore their use is permissible by decision of the medical commission in the prescribed manner, if the potential benefit the patient will exceed the risk of their use. “
The consent form for the use of the drug, posted on doc-covid.ru, also indicates that the effectiveness of the drug “for the prevention and treatment of mild forms of coronavirus is not currently confirmed by objective data”, but “its use in severe forms of a new coronavirus infection COVID- 19 has not been proven effective. “
The site lists side effects of the drug, including possible nausea and vomiting, tinnitus, hearing loss, visual impairment, dizziness, diarrhea.
In Russia, drugs of four manufacturers of hydroxychloroquine are registered – the French Sanofi, the Canadian New Pharm Inc., the Indian Ipka Laboratories, and the Biocom CJSC in Stavropol. The Russian BBC service managed to contact one of them – Sanofi.
Recently, there has been a growing demand for hydroxychloroquine both from the pharmacy segment and from government customers, said Yuri Mochalin, director of corporate relations at Sanofi Eurasia.
The drug is now more difficult to get for those who need it for treatment according to indications. Vedomosti reported that in most Moscow pharmacies on March 27 there were no antimalarial drugs with the active substance hydroxychloroquine.
Mochalin explained that the company is taking measures to provide patients with hydroxychloroquine to continue prescribed therapy according to registered indications. “For our part, we are introducing tight monitoring of orders and shipments to counterparties in order to ensure patients according to registered indications,” he said.
The company asked market players to tighten the supply of the drug according to prescriptions and registered indications. Sanofi also appealed to the Russian Ministry of Health with a request to “express a clear position regarding the use of this drug outside of registered indications”, as there are no reliable clinical studies of the effectiveness of the drug in coronavirus.
With the participation of Andrei Soshnikov and Andrei Zakharov
Sources:
See an original article here:
https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-52144081
See the official decree, allowing doctors to trial on themselves:
https://www.mos.ru/upload/documents/docs/34-YM.pdf