08/04/20
The US sent Brazil millions of hydroxychloroquine doses. Months later, they're still in storage
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro shows a box of hydroxychloroquine to supporters outside the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, on July 23, 2020.
Sao Paulo (CNN)It was the kind of gift that should have come with a return slip.
The Trump administration's donation of 2 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to Brazil -- one of a handful of countries that still recommend the drug for Covid-19 -- has been mostly untouched since arrival, Brazilian officials have told CNN.
Vast quantities of the pills are still sitting in storage in the Brazilian megacity of São Paulo, and one former health minister believes
they may eventually have to be destroyed.
The pills' fate in Brazil is appropriate given their medical uselessness against Covid-19: Study after study has shown hydroxychloroquine does not work to treat the coronavirus, and may be harmful. Yet Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro insists that hydroxychloroquine helped him recover from a two-week infection, and Brazil's health ministry advises that doctors prescribe the drug to treat mild cases, even for pregnant women. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus infections in the country is skyrocketing.
So why haven't the pills been distributed?
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