Morocco Reports First COVID-19 Patient Cured with Chloroquine Treatment

On the 6th day of his treatment at the military hospital in Rabat, the first patient treated in this unit with Plaquenil and Azithromycin was declared negative for covid-19, according to confidential information that leaked from the said hospital. This choice by the health authorities is cause for optimism.

The Ministry of Health had authorized, on Monday, March 23, 2020, in an official note addressed to the directors of the University Hospital Centers (CHU), the prescription of chloroquine, and especially Hydroxychloroquine, in healthcare facilities for the therapeutic management of confirmed cases of covid-19. This decision is the result of a "consultation with the Technical and Scientific Committee of the National Program for the Prevention and Control of Influenza and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections".

Unfortunately, this information unknown to all was revealed by the Head of Government, Sâadeddine El Othmani on his Twitter account. In a response (now deleted) to a question about the use of Plaquenil, an antimalarial drug based on Hydroxychloroquine, El Othmani claimed that "all positive coronavirus cases recorded in Morocco are indeed treated with this drug".

Like wildfire, the information was widely relayed, causing a real rush on pharmacies, which gradually saw their stocks of Plaquenil 200 mg (Hydroxychloroquine) reduced, as it was sold for 51 dirhams and Nivaquine (chloroquine) offered at 12 dirhams.

In a clarification addressed to the media, the department of Khalid Aït Taleb asked citizens to remain vigilant about the information circulating on the effectiveness of chloroquine in treating individuals infected with Covid-19. "This treatment is still in the testing phase in many countries," warns a press release from the ministry, which specifies that the authorities are closely following the ongoing research and that in case of positive results, the use of this treatment will have to be applied by a national scientific committee, according to a specific medical protocol.