Chloroquine-based drugs are used across Africa to treat malaria and so are very well-known medications. It is also used to treat other illnesses like Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
Chloroquine had recently been trending on Twitter in Nigeria and Ghana, because it is rumoured that they may be a possible Covid-19 ‘cure’. Donald Trump, the president of the United States, said on Thursday 19th March, that the drug can work. However, at the moment, this is just a rumour. Scientists are currently researching whether chloroquine can be used to treat Covid-19. But this is still very much in the research stage. There have been no trials of the drug to treat coronavirus. The drug might work, but we definitely don’t know in what quantities, yet.
This means that if you take the drug for Covid-19, you might do more harm than good. The drug can be deadly if abused. In Lagos, Nigeria, there have already been at least 3 cases of chloroquine poisoning since Trump’s comment last Thursday. In the worst cases, chloroquine overdose can kill. In Arizona, USA, in the past week, one man has died from chloroquine poisoning and his wife is in hospital after they both took it to try and protect themselves from Covid-19. For toddlers, just two tablets of 155mg each can kill. The medication also has very nasty side effects, like extreme itching – all the more reason not to use it unless you actually have malaria.
In Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria, pharmacies have been selling out of chloroquine. This is very bad, because it means that people who need the drug to treat their malaria cannot get it. Even if they can get it, it has risen in price – by up to 400% – so they may not be able to afford it anymore.
The Lagos State Health Ministry have said that they have “no hard evidence that chloroquine is effective in prevention or management of coronavirus infection.”
You should not try to buy chloroquine unless you have a prescription from your doctor. You should not try to use it to treat Covid-19. This can be incredibly dangerous.