COVID-19: Lagos to use 600 patients to assess the efficacy of Chloroquine as a safe COVID-19 treatment

The Lagos state government has said it will enlist 600 patients to determine the effectiveness of chloroquine as a valid COVID-19 treatment. The disclosure was made by state's Information Commissioner, Gbenga Omotosho.

He said, "in summary, we're going to look at about 600 patients. The trial continues until we recruit the number required.

"A separate Data and Safety Board will be formed. The board may request that the research be stopped if the statistical evidence of a drug 's usefulness is overwhelming and in which case it becomes unethical to withhold it from other groups.

 "Talking as well, the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that the state had learned how to deal with infectious diseases by handling infectious diseases through its handling of the Ebola pandemic in 2014.

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"That was also epic in Lagos and it gave Lagos some understanding on how to manage serious infectious diseases. We have an Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba and we have had some international grants even after the Ebola case and over the past two to three years we have built what we call a biosecurity lab level four that can match any of its kind in the world.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, had earlier in April said the state was going to hold clinical trials. The adaptation of Chloroquine for clinical trial as a potential drug in managing the symptoms of COVID-19 is based on data from other treatment centres across the world.