Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Bala Mohammed, who survived the Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection said on Thursday that he has ordered the use of chloroquine for treatment of the virus in Bauchi State.
Giving an update to the people of his State on the fight against Coronavirus, Governor Bala Mohammed disclosed that he was treated during his infection with “chloroquine and Zithromax” after he tested positive for Coronavirus.
He was the COVID-19 Index Case in Bauchi State which presently has a total of 29 confirmed cases. It has not registered any death.
Mohammed’s statement on the use of chloroquine adds to the global debate on the appropriateness of recommending the drug.
While the drug has been found to be effective in some cases in treating COVID-19, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other experts have warned that it has not undergone essential clinical trials to be recommended for treating the disease; and may have detrimental side effects.
President Donald Trump of the U.S. was criticised last month for recommending the use of the drug for the treatment of COVID-19 in the U.S.
The Governor, who also said that he will would take responsibility for any consequences of approving such drugs, said that “our medical team is using their own ingenuity to use chloroquine and Zithromax to treat the patients, even though in some places, they said it is against the protocol. As the governor, I’m taking responsibility for that because I don’t want anyone to die.
Addressing the Health officials directly, Mohammed said: “I have given you the directive that you must use something that I have used to get well, just as you have used for all other cases that got well. Rather than saying that something is harmful, we should not follow what the white people are saying by not taking anything and die.
“We are used to taking chloroquine in Nigeria. We are going to use them. We have taken responsibility and I have taken responsibility. Zithromax and chloroquine are not harmful to our body, our physiological system has adapted to it. If you are having a fever you take chloroquine. Nobody is affected with any serious distress in Bauchi, even though now we are going to be tested with the 23 cases.”