Nigeria has recorded Chloroquine poisonings after US President Donald Trump touted the malaria drug as treatment for COVID-19.
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Nigeria records Chloroquine poisonings after Donald Trump touts malaria drug for treatment of COVID-19
Nigeria records Chloroquine poisonings after Donald Trump touts malaria drug for treatment of COVID-19
A Nigerian woman recently bought a bottle of sanitiser at a Lagos pharmacy store for almost N20,000. (TheCable)
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The US President on Thursday said at a news conference that the antimalarial drug had been “approved” to treat Covid-19 by the US Food and Drug Administration.
However, the head of the agency pushed back on Trump's claim and said it had not yet been given a definitive green light.
Chloroquine was among the first group of therapies Chinese scientists identified as being effective in curbing the new coronavirus, Fortune reports
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Clinical trials on about 130 patients demonstrated the drug’s ability to reduce the severity of the illness and speed up virus clearance, according to China’s Ministry of Sciences and Technology.
According to AFP, health officials in Lagos said that there had already been claims online pushing chloroquine as a treatment and that Trump’s message had seen interest surge.
“In the last few days, we’ve seen a lot of messages going around on social media about chloroquine being a cure for coronavirus and in some parts of Lagos, it was no longer available,” said Ore Awokoya, senior special assistant to the Lagos state governor on health.
“But after Donald Trump’s statement it took another dimension, people were massively queuing in front of the pharmacies to buy chloroquine.”
“We’ve already registered two cases of poisoning – the patients have been hospitalised in Lagos – but we will probably see more and more cases in the coming days,” she said.
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(Additional files were added from AFP)
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