The National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the United States has included Pakistan in the list of the countries working to formulate a cure for the novel coronavirus.

On Wednesday, NLM approved a 20-member team of the Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad to derive the cure for the deadly virus, CEO of the medical college Dr. Umer Farooq told the media.

They [NLM] praised Pakistani experts and based on the credentials we were allowed to start testing for the cure. Groups of 25 people will be made initially for the trials.

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Dr. Farooq said that they will test azithromycin and chloroquine on the first group, and only chloroquine on the second group. The third group will be treated with traditional medicine.

Volunteers for testing will be selected on the basis of their age and severity of the disease, he said, adding that patients suffering from heart disease and other major complications will not be considered.

After approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the USA, we can hope for a cure for the coronavirus to be available for the world.

Last month, FDA had authorized two antimalarial drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, to be used as a potential COVID-19 treatment. While announcing the testing of the drugs, President Donald Trump touted the move as a game-changer in the fight against coronavirus pandemic.

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Though FDA has allowed doctors to prescribe antimalarial drugs to young and adult patients with COVID-19, scientists have warned against the use of unproven treatments.

Many researchers and infectious disease experts in the United States have asked people to be cautious until larger clinical trials validate its use.