Nigerian health officials on Monday issued a warning about chloroquine, an antimalarial drug President Trump has repeatedly touted as a possible coronavirus treatment, saying three people have overdosed on it.
Lagos State Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s press secretary, Gboyega Akosile, tweeted that the governor’s senior special assistant on health, Oreoluwa Finnih, had warned against “massive consumption” of the drug.
Please note: Hospitals Now Receiving Patients Suffering From Chloroquine Poisoning, Says Gov @jidesanwoolu's SSA on Health, Dr @Oreoluwa_Finnih
She urged people against massive consumption of Chloroquine as a measure to fight #coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/Q4vLS79KUs— gboyega akosile (@gboyegaakosile) March 20, 2020
An official in Lagos told CNN that three residents of the capital had been hospitalized as of Monday.
Trump’s comments on the drug have caused demand to surge in Lagos, CNN noted, which has in turn caused major price hikes.
Kayode Fabunmi, a Lagos-based lawyer, told the network that he saw prices rise 400 percent in his area.
“The pharmacist knew the market and was saying to every incoming customer, ‘You know Donald Trump has said this thing cures coronavirus,’ and the price kept changing,” he told CNN.
Lagos’s state health commissioner, Akin Abayomi, said in a tweet that there is not “hard evidence that chloroquine is effective in preventing or managing COVID-19.”
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Nigeria issues warning about anti-malaria drug Trump repeatedly touted after overdoses https://t.co/ueYYNzue2v pic.twitter.com/ccdxX1WUnu
— The Hill (@thehill) March 23, 2020
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