Some African countries have started using chloroquine to treat coronavirus patients.
The Kenyan government has already approved the use of the anti-malarial drug to treat patients.
Kenya’s Health Director General Patrick Amoth however said the drug will only be given to critical patients, according to Citizen TV reports.
Dr Amoth however said the sale of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine over the counter at pharmacies are not allowed.
Meanwhile in Ghana, the country’s health minister, Kweku Agyeman-Manu said on Wednesday that he has given approval for the anti-malarial drug to be used for treating covid-19 patients.
He told journalists in Accra that “we still have four cases on admission at Ridge Hospital, repeat tests have shown still positive so we continue to keep them there. The doctors have started giving them hydroxychloroquine two days ago”.
The minister also noted that “At the moment, we have enough stock to take care of all the people we have on admission”.
Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug works in a different way and is given to people to prevent malaria infections if they are bitten by a mosquito carrying the parasite.
The drug works by salts inside them poisoning parasites and preventing them from growing inside human red blood cells.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reportedly approved for the use of Chloroquine to treat coronavirus patients.
ECOWAS supports supplementary anti-viral treatment of coronavirus with hydroxychloroquine but said it should be for mild forms of the virus.
That means only patients displaying mild symptoms of the virus can receive hydroxychloroquine treatment for between 5-7 days.
In parts of the sub-region, health experts have been researching on the efficacy of the anti-malarial drug for treating Covid-19.
Hydroxychloroquine may now be prescribed to treat COVID-19 in France, according to the government.
Last month Australian researchers said some Covid-19 patients have responded ‘very well’ to drugs used to treat malaria.
Source: Africafeeds.com
