India Coronavirus Dispatch: Over 100 mn HCQ pills have been distributed

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India distributed nearly 112 million hydroxychloroquine pills despite scepticism

The Central Government has distributed millions of pills of an anti-malarial drug called hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as part of its Covid-19 relief programme, according to a report in the Quartz.

The Centre has distributed nearly 112 million tables of HCQ which is used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases or malaria. While there were claims in the early days of the pandemic that the drug was effective against coronavirus, by mid-2020 the WHO and several countries had quashed these claims. In June, the WHO halted HCQ trials and said the existing data showed the