PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry is still administering anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, to treat Covid-19 patients but is taking precautions to mitigate the side effects of the drug.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said it was important to keep a close watch on the condition of a patient who was given hydroxychloroquine for over a period of five days during the early stages of the infection or when they are in Category 1 or 2 of the infection stage.
"All medicines have its side effects. Hydroxychloroquine causes blur vision and the other thing which is worrying is heart rhythm, and it is important that we monitor that.
"From the first day (of treatment), we have been using off label Hydroxychloroquine, which is used to treat malaria for the past 40 years. But it does not indicate for us to use it for Covid-19.
"From our experience after using it on Category 1 and 2 patients, it showed that it can prevent the infection from deteriorating to Category 4 or 5 as it is an anti-inflammatory medicine.
"However, due to the side effects and if long QT intervals (ventricular activity) are detected, we need to stop giving hydroxychloroquine because it can cause the heart to fail," said Dr Noor Hisham during his daily press briefing at the Health Ministry (MoH).
Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry's experts were also studying Hydroxychloroquine's effectiveness, how to avoid the side effects, how long it can used on patients and its dosage because all side effects were deemed as being hazardous.
He was asked on Malaysia's perspective on World Health Organisation's decision to temporarily suspend clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19.
This follows a study published in The Lancet medical journal which suggested that the drug could potentially increase the risk of death among Covid-19 patients.