Malaysia has enrolled its first patient for the WHO-led Solidarity Trial in an effort to find the best drug to treat COVID-19.

The matter was shared by the Health Ministry’s Clinical Research Centre director Dr Goh Pik Pin.

According to a report in The Star, Dr Goh, is the coordinator for the trial in Malaysia.

Dr Goh said there was no limit to the number of patients tested, as long as they were adults, met the requirements, and that the hospitals could cope with the numbers.

“With this, Malaysia will contribute to the evidence the world needs in identifying efficacious treatment regimen for COVID-19 patients,” she said in a tweet.

Nine hospitals identified


A cure soon?

Before this, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said nine government hospitals would participate in the trials and test out of four treatment protocols using different combinations of the drugs Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Interferon beta, Remdesivir, Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine.

The nine Health Ministry hospitals involved in the trials are Tuanku Fauziah Hospital, Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, Penang Hospital, Sungai Buloh Hospital, Kuala Lumpur Hospital,

Melaka Hospital, Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital, Sarawak General Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The research is headed by Hospital Pulau Pinang’s infectious disease consultant, Dr Chow Ting Soo, with a team comprising 16 infectious disease physicians and pharmacists as co-investigators at the respective hospitals.

Let’s hope they find a solution to this soon!