Promotion of unproved and potential dangerous measures in fighting COVID-19 pandemic: urgent need for vigilant appropriate public communication and generation of scientific evidence

Pan Afr Med J. 2020 Oct 28;37(Suppl 1):29. doi: 10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.37.29.25547. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

The ultimate cure for COVID-19 has not yet been discovered, but there is a lot of promoted traditional and food supplements claimed to be effective against the disease. Some of the promoted measures are not only associated with other adverse health outcome, but also create a sense of false protection; leading to failure to follow appropriate measures. It is crucial to identify, correct this misinformation, and to conduct clinical trials to generate evidence among those which are scientifically sound.

Keywords: COVID-19; Misconception; evidence.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19 / prevention & control*
  • Communication*
  • Complementary Therapies / adverse effects*
  • Evidence-Based Medicine
  • Health Communication*
  • Humans