Nigeria

Coronavirus: WHO hasn't approved use of chloroquine to treat disease - NCDC

Friday, March 20, 2020 at 5:29 PM by Onyirioha Nnamdi

- The NCDC has reacted to reported potency of chloroquine for the cure of coronavirus

- The NCDC advised Nigerians that the use of the pill for this purpose should be left to the WHO to approve

- The agency warned citizens to avoid self-medication which it believes can cause death

- The body revealed that scientists all over the world are working on a set of drugs that will cue the global pandemic

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has admonished citizens of the country on the use of chloroquine, a pill famous for the cure of malaria, to treat the dreaded disease called coronavirus.

On its official Twitter page on Friday, March 20, told Nigerians that the use of the medicine is subject to the approval of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The agency said that for now, the global health body is yet to give its opinion on chloroquine as a means to eradicate the global pandemic.

Read also

COVID-19 cure: NAFDAC approves production of chloroquine for clinical trials

Coronavirus: WHO hasn't approved use of chloroquine to treat disease - NCDC — The NCDC warned Nigerians not to self-medicate as it can lead to death.
Source: Facebook

It added that scientists are currently "working hard to confirm the safety of several drugs for this disease."

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Speaking further, the NCDC warned Nigerians to refrain from self-medication as it can lead to death.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that amid the spread of the coronavirus and the diligent search for treatments and cure, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Friday, March 20, announced the approval of chloroquine production for clinical trials.

Mojisola Adeyeye, head of NAFDAC, disclosed this at the agency's headquarters in Lagos state.

Nonetheless, Adeyeye stated it clearly that chloroquine is not being approved by NAFDAC as a treatment of the deadly virus but for clinical trials to find a treatment for COVID-19.

She said: “NAFDAC is not approving Chloroquine as a product that 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. Therefore the medicine is being approved just for the clinical trials.”