On 27th March, 2020, the Health director-general Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said to the press that, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has contacted the Malaysia's Ministry of Health to be among the first countries to test out a possible Covid-19 cure, named "Remdsivir".
He added that Malaysia was chosen due to the it has fulfilled the criteria required, such as having a good medical system, well trained local researchers and also having a suitable platform to conduct the tests.
The research will be carried out once the medicine is made available to, at the "Covid-19 hospitals" which includes the Sungai Buloh Hospital and other hospitals. The medicine will be given to patients and the professionals will monitor the patient's conditions. Objective of such research is to find out the effectiveness of Remdsivir and also the side effects of it.
Remdesivir is a novel antiviral drug, which was used as a treatment for two virus infections : Marburg and Ebola.
It is a great honor and a proud moment for Malaysians, as the country is selected to participate in a global level research. A big thumbs up to the leaders and people of Malaysia.