Facts reveal that no Nigerian has died as result of chloroquine medication. Although the medication has generated many reactions from different quarters.
After US President Donald Trump praised the anti-malaria drug as a treatment for the coronavirus, Nigeria reported two cases of chloroquine poisoning. Two people were hospitalized in Lagos state for chloroquine overdoses.
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), however, warned Nigerians against consuming the anti-malaria drug to prevent or treat coronavirus infection.
Also, the director-general of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye, urged Nigerians to desist from using chloroquine as an anti-malaria drug because of the resistance that has been proven to develop in the past.
Adeyeye said: “In the case of Chloroquine, it has been demonstrated in the literature and with clinical research which is still ongoing, that chloroquine is superior to the placebo.
“NAFDAC is not approving chloroquine as a product that has can be used for coronavirus because there is no submission to us for registration. But because it is under clinical trials, NAFDAC approves medicines meant for clinical trials. Right now, we have asked one company to make a batch of Chloroquine for the purpose of clinical trial.”
Speaking on the effect of the anti-malaria drug, the Lagos State Health Ministry issued a brief statement saying there was no ‘hard evidence that chloroquine is effective in prevention or management of coronavirus infection.