Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to update the House on the latest medical research into hydroxychloroquine. Firstly, a peer-reviewed paper published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents concluded:

Hydroxychloroquine at low dose in combination with zinc and azithromycin proved to be an effective therapeutic approach against COVID-19

This study found that the odds of hospitalisations of the treated patient group was 84 per cent less then the untreated group. Secondly, a study by the Peruvian Ministry of Health found a 43 per cent reduction in death for those who received treatment with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. Despite these latest studies adding to the overwhelming evidence, health bureaucrats continue to deny Australians the right to this medical treatment, claiming it is unproven. Even if these bureaucrats are right, their ban is in direct violation of the ethical principles set out in the Declaration of Helsinki, of which section 37 states:

… where proven interventions do not exist … the physician, after seeking expert advice, with informed consent from the patient or a legally authorised representative, may use an unproven intervention if in the physician’s judgement it offers hope of saving life, re-establishing health or alleviating suffering.

This unprecedented violation of the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship, denying Australians access to this drug, must end.

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