Kenya’s Pharmacy and Poison’s board has advised the public against the use of Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine as a means of treating coronavirus.
The board has also banned all pharmacies and chemists from selling Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine drugs to clients without a prescription from a medical doctor.
“Following the news that the United States of America is using Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine to treat SARS-COV-2, there has been a rush by many to acquire these medicines from pharmacies to stock them. Please note that clinical trial in utilizing them are ongoing and no robust clinical data substantiating their use for prophylaxis and curative purposes is available, hence caution has to be applied when using them.” Reads the statement.
The warning comes the government was notified of the public who are stocking the drugs to self-medicate for the virus.
According to the board, the ill use of the drugs is likely to result into blindness which cannot be reversed.
“Please note that irrational use of this hydroxychloroquine may lead to irreversible blindness which is detrimental to the health of general public.”
US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week accounted for the drugs as a possible treatment for coronavirus in spite of a lack of study by health officials or approval by the World Health Organization.
“It’s shown very encouraging very, very encouraging early results. And we’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately. And that’s where the FDA has been so great. They have gone through the approval process; it’s been approved. And they did it — they took it down from many, many months to immediate. So we’re going to be able to make that drug available by prescription or states,” Trump said.
Medical experts are yet to approve the use of it for the virus.
Last week in Nigeria, three people overdosed on the drugs days after President Trump touted them as possible drugs for the virus.
Nigerians have since advised against using the drugs.
