Bukele
President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele
President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele has announced that he is taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure against the coronavirus.

Bukele told reporters on Tuesday that "most world leaders" are doing the same and has questioned why world leaders are being advised to use it while the public is not.

"I use it as a prophylaxis, President Trump uses it as a prophylaxis, most of the world's leaders use it as a prophylaxis," said Bukele.

President Donald Trump has been a proponent of the drug, which is normally used to treat malaria, and recently announced that he had been taking it.

"A lot of good things have come out about the hydroxy. You'd be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers," Trump said at the White House on April 19. "I happen to be taking it. I'm taking it, hydroxychloroquine. Right now."

Trump has since completed his regimen.

The World Health Organization suspended a trial of the drug on Monday, claiming that they had safety concerns. Following their announcement, Bukele said that El Salvador would no longer promote it as a treatment for the virus, but that people could continue to take it as a preventative measure if they wish.

On Twitter, Bukele questioned why world leaders were being advised to take it, while the general public is not.


"Does it work? I don't know. But we have been advised to take it. While the rest of the world is being advised not to. Why? That's a question worth asking. Isn't it?" Bukele wrote.