When US President, Donald. J. Trump, suggested that the anti-malarial drug, Hydroxylchloroquine in combination with other drugs like Zinc and Azithromycin was effective in the early treatment of coronavirus, the mains stream media and the World Health Organisation (WHO) went crazy and accused the US President of disinformation and fake news.
The Mainstream media touted so called professionals who shamelessly denounced their own President and said the drug does not work and was dangerous for use. From Dr. Fauci, to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Donald Trump was vilified and dragged in the mud for being a ‘stupid’ president.
In reaction, to Trump’s endorsement of chloroquine, The WHO as well as the US Food and Drug Administration agency, put an end to clinical trials of the drug against coronavirus while several backwater studies were published in reputable journals like ‘The Lancet’ just to discredit the efficacy of chloroquine in treatment of the virus. The WHO also encouraged collaborator countries to stop trial runs with the anti-malarial drug.
Over time, however, studies and real life experiences of patients and medical personnel have exposed the lies of the mainstream media and the WHO. Asides from Donald Trump, individual leaders and political figures around the world praised the efficacy of the combination which features Chloroquine in treatment of coronavirus in its early stage. Individual U.S doctors as well as doctors in India, France, China, South Korea, Pakistan and Nigeria have testified to the use a chloroquine combo to cut help coronavirus patients get back on their feet very quickly. The Lancet also pulled down its backwater study and said the data could not be verified.
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Nigeria was one of the countries that refused to heed the call of the WHO and the mainstream media to ignore Donald Trump and discontinue Hydroxylchloroquine trials and it has paid off.
The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Mojisola Adeyeye confirmed the efficacy of chloroquine in the early treatment of coronavirus and lamented the fact that science has been mixed with politics.
While speaking in a Tuesday interview, the NAFDAC DG said,
“We have realised that chloroquine is effective at the early stage. I was watching CNN about four days ago and heard Sanjay Gupta, the medical doctor, and correspondent mention for the first time that chloroquine can be used prophylactically. This was in the US, and to come from him was significant because all the while he had been saying that it was not effective, but this was proving it. If something is working prophylactically, it means that the illness will not progress.”
She lamented the high global death rate of coronavirus and blamed it on the infusion of science with politics.
“We have mixed science with politics and many people are dying across the world. . . Science does not lie. We now understand that it is not only one drug that can be effective against COVID-19; it depends on the stage of the disease.”
Speaking further about the cost of the drug, she noted that the miracle drug remdesivir being touted by the Mainstream media and the US FDA, costs $2,500 per treatment while chloroquine costs just $5.
Dr. Mojisola said, “When we got the profile of remdesivir, what was recorded in literature and from the manufacturer was that remdesivir does not work in the early stage but in the late stage. We started working with Lagos State because they have chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and other drugs. They are still working on chloroquine, but what we are getting from the grapevine is that it is working but not at every stage.
In another interactive session, confirming her findings to Journalists, Dr. Mojisola affirmed further that Science does not lie. “We realise that chloroquine can be used in the early stage of the COVID-19 infection as prophylactic treatment. Science does not lie.”
“On March 20, 2020 during a press briefing, I said I was going through a literature and I found (out) that chloroquine and remdesivir killed COVID-19 in vitro – that is in the laboratory. In early March, there was a publication where 100 patients were treated with chloroquine in 10 hospitals across Chinese cities. I made a statement that chloroquine is only for clinical trial treatment. There has to be a level of confidence that depends on the number of subjects and results.”
“We did not know that the disease has four stages that include pre-exposure, early stage, severe stage and post-infection. At what stage that chloroquine will be more effective, we did not know at that time. We are now understanding that it is not one drug that can be effective for COVID-19. It depends on the phase of the disease. We started working with Lagos State on clinical trial for chloroquine. We are getting to know that that it is working.
The NAFDAC DG pointed out that other countries like Ghana and Senegal have started chloroquine studies of their own.
“My colleague in Ghana has a robust study on chloroquine use on COVID-19 patients that is going to be released soon. Also, several people that had COVID-19 in Senegal recovered after using the drug. The Director General of Senegal’s drug regulatory body that is also Director General of the regional regulatory body ordered chloroquine from a company in Ota, Ogun State, and distributed to 15 member-countries. I know Ghana is using it. If something is effective prophylactically, it means that the disease will not progress.”