The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday stressed that chloroquine is not an approved cure for coronavirus (COVID-19).
The call by the disease control centre became necessary after many widely circulated articles suggested that the malaria drug could cure coronavirus.
Reacting to the news, NCDC said, “World Health Organisation has not approved the use of chloroquine for COVID-19 management. Scientists are working hard to confirm the safety of several drugs for this disease.
“Please do not engage in self-medication. This will cause harm and can lead to death,” the NCDC said.
Chronicle NG had reported yesterday that Lagos hospitals were receiving patients for chloroquine poisoning on Friday.
Many of the patients were believed to have self-medicated and overused the malaria drug.
In a warning by the Senior Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos state, Dr Oreoluwa Finnih, she urged people against massive consumption of the malaria as a measure to fight coronavirus.
According to her, there are a lot of unverified information in circulation about the pandemic, and that it was important for people to be sure of their facts before taking any medication.
A statement by the Lagos government said, “We do not have any hard evidence that chloroquine is effective in preventing or managing coronavirus,” the statement said.
“We are watching the global research space to clearly define its efficiency in COVID-19.”
“Lagos State Ministry of Health will be conducting its own clinical trial on the effectiveness of chloroquine in the prevention or management of COVID-19 infection.
The state government then warned that, “Chloroquine has significant side effects and should not be used without medical supervision, as it may cause more harm than good.
“In summary, await our directives for the use of chloroquine and do not use it without medical supervision”.
