The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, says he will not disclose the name of the drug used in treating COVID-19 patients, some of whom have already been discharged.
Ehanire said this during the daily briefing on COVID-19 in Abuja on Friday.
The minister said the most important thing was that people were getting treated.
He said revealing the name of the drugs being used to treat COVID-19 could make people resort to self-treatment and possibly overdose.
Ehanire said, “The drug or drugs being used are matters of interest to doctors who are providing treatment. Doctors advise each other on which drugs they used and I believe as time goes on, they will compile a report on what worked and what didn’t work.
“As I said earlier, the treatment centres in Lagos are using certain drugs for clinical trial and they will be able to add from their experience to the body of knowledge and what worked and what didn’t work. You may have also read that some people suffered from chloroquine poisoning in Lagos because they thought this was the best way to treat themselves.
“It is not for you to go and purchase and treat yourself. So, I won’t advise anyone looking for the name of the drug when you are not even sure you have that sickness.”
