The COVID-19 viral disease that has swept into at least 114 countries killing more than 4,000 is now officially a pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced March 11. Different countries have shown different results after trying a variety of approaches.
For example, on Jan. 20, China began locking down the city of Wuhan (the epicenter of the disease). After nearly a month, and despite that lockdown, the number of cases in China had grown to 75,000.
On Feb. 20, following a limited clinical trial, Chinese experts recommended the use of chloroquine in treatment protocols. They discovered that the drug flattened the curve of infections. Now, a month later, the number of cases has reached 81,000, and the death rate from COVID-19 infections is only about 4 percent.
This observation is significant.
Nations like Italy have attempted many drastic measures to isolate people without using chloroquine, with little result. On March 7, for example, Italy’s government locked down much of the country’s northern region. Yet the death rate from the virus stands at 43% today, and the number of deaths continues to increase significantly each day.
Similar patterns, not involving chloroquine use, have been experienced in other nations. South Korea, however, allowed the use of chloroquine in their treatment protocols for COVID-19 infections. Today, South Korea’s death rate is approximately 3.7%.
Compare this number to Spain, which followed the Italian model — including not using chloroquine. Today, their death rate is approximately 40%.
The statistical message is clear for us in United States.
Should we follow the Italian and the Spanish models by not using chloroquine therapy for corona infections, or should we follow South Korea and other nations that have used chloroquine in confronting the pandemic?
Sad, but we have not yet begun using chloroquine, and our death toll has exceeded 400, including 114 what, at the time of this writing, was the latest report — a sharp increase.
How many more deaths do we need before the bureaucracy that is delaying chloroquine use will employ this life-saving drug, particularly when we know that chloroquine is considered a safe drug by the World Health Organization.
Likewise, chloroquine has been approved and used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for many other reasons.
Ironically, if any American citizen today booked a ticket to travel to a country (like India) in which malaria is prevalent, his or her doctor typically would prescribe chloroquine as a preventative meaure.
Despite FDA inaction, it's still quite fair to thank President Donald Trump for initiating a major chloroquine clinical trial that — bureaucratic intransigence notwithstanding — might result in saving thousands if not millions of American lives.
Thank you Mr. President.
Dr. Tawfik Hamid (aka Tarek Abdelhamid) M.D.; Mlitt (Edu) has testified before Congress and before the European Parliament. Dr. Hamid is the author of "Inside Jihad: How Radical Islam Works, Why It Should Terrify Us, How to Defeat It." Read more reports from Tawfik Hamid — Click Here Now.
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