Version of Record (VoR)
Osuagwu, U. L., Nwaeze, O., Ovenseri-Ogbomo, G. O., Oloruntoba, R., Ekpenyong, B., Mashige, K. P., … Agho, K. E. (2021). Opinion and uptake of chloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 during the mandatory lockdown in the sub-Saharan African region. African Journal Of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v13i1.2795
Opinion and Uptake of Chloroquine for treatment of Coronavirus during the Mandatory Lockdown in Sub Sahara African Region
Abstract
Background: As the search for effective treatment of coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continues, the public opinion around the potential use of chloroquine in treating COVID-19 remain mixed.
Aim: To examine opinion and uptake of Chloroquine (CQ) for treating COVID-19 in Sub-Sahara African (SSA)
Methods: Anonymous online survey of 1829 SSAs was conducted during the lockdown using Facebook, WhatsApp and authors’ networks. Opinion and uptake of CQ for COVID-19 treatment were assessed using multivariate analyses.
Results: About 14% of respondents believed that CQ could treat COVID-19 and of which, 3.2% took CQ for COVID-19 treatment. Multivariate analyses revealed that respondents from Central (adjusted odds ratios (AOR): 2.54, 95%CI 1.43, 4.43) and West Africa (AOR: 1.79, 95%CI 1.15, 2.88) had higher odds of believing that CQ could treat COVID-19. Respondents from East Africa reported higher odds for uptake of CQ for COVID-19 than Central, Western and Southern Africans. Knowledge of the disease and compliance with the public health advice were associated with both belief and uptake of CQ for COVID-19 treatment.
Conclusions: Central and West African respondents were more likely to believe in CQ as a treatment for COVID-19 while the uptake of the medication during the pandemic was higher among East Africans. Future intervention discouraging the unsupervised use of CQ should target respondents from Central, West and East African regions.
Keywords: Coronavirus; sub-Saharan Africa; chloroquine hydrochloride; Africa; poisoning
Introduction
Global public health authorities must combat dangerous and unproven theories about the use of the antimalarial, chloroquine (CQ), for treating COVID-19 infections despite lack of evidence. Since the declaration of COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 11th, 20201, vaccines are now being introduced in different countries for treatment of the infection2 but their effectivity is still in test.3 Aware that novel treatments and/or vaccines will take time to be distributed to patients, there is growing interest in the use of existing medications, such as CQ and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), as potential treatments of COVID-19.4-7 Despite promising in vitro results8, there is no direct supporting data on the effective role of CQ and HCQ in the treatment for COVID-19.9 Those reporting that the drug has a favorable effect on the outcomes of COVID-19 were not clinical trials and used poor methodology.5, 6, 10