On Monday, the Goa government, under the instructions from Health Minister gave permission for the use of the Ivermectin drug for all the people above 18 years in Goa irrespective of their coronavirus disease (Covid-19) status to bring down mortality. But in reality, there they seem to have not taken cognizance of the WHO who warned against it.
The State health minister Vishwajit Rane said that the patients will be given Ivermectin 12mg for a period of five days as expert panels from the UK, Italy, Spain, and Japan have found a statistically significant reduction in mortality, time to recovery, and viral clearance in Covid-19 patients treated with this medicine.
“I have given instructions for immediate implementation of prophylaxis (action taken to prevent disease) treatment. The Ivermectin 12 mg tablet will be made available in all the district, sub-district, PHCs, CHCs, sub-health centers, rural dispensaries for people to collect and start treatment immediately, irrespective of any symptoms or anything,” Rane said.
“Patients will be treated with Ivermectin 12mg for a period of five days. Expert panels from the UK, Italy, Spain, and Japan, found a large, statistically significant reduction in mortality, time to recovery, and viral clearance in Covid-19 patients treated with Ivermectin,” the Health Minister also said, after a meeting with top health officials and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
Rane said that Goa would be the first state in the country to endorse the new Covid-19 treatment protocol. “However, this does not prevent Covid-19 infection but helps in reducing the severity of the disease and at the same time one should not have a false sense of security and complacency but strictly take all the precautionary measures and follow laid SOPs,” he added.
A few days back peer-reviewed research has claimed that global Ivermectin use can end the Covid-19 pandemic, as the medicine significantly reduces the risk of contracting the deadly respiratory disease when used regularly.
The common anti-parasitic Ivermectin is being touted as a miracle cure for Covid-19 by doctors and campaigners the world over. Peer reviewed by medical experts that included three US government senior scientists and published in the American Journal of Therapeutics, the research is the most comprehensive review of the available data taken from clinical, in vitro, animal, and real-world studies.
“Our latest research shows, once again, that when the totality of the evidence is examined, there is no doubt that Ivermectin is highly effective as a safe prophylaxis and treatment for Covid-19,” said Paul E. Marik, founding member of the FLCCC and Chief, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School. Many regions around the world now recognize that Ivermectin is powerful prophylaxis and treatment for Covid-19.
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Mexico, and India have approved the drug for use by medical professionals. The results as seen in this latest study demonstrate that the Ivermectin distribution campaigns repeatedly led to “rapid population-wide decreases in morbidity and mortality.”
However, a day after the Goa health minister prescribed the use of this drug, WHO has released a warning against the use of the drug. The World Health Organization on Tuesday recommended against the general use of ‘Ivermectin’ for treatment of Covid-19 patients. “Safety and efficacy are important when using any drug for a new indication. WHO recommends against the use of ‘Ivermectin’ for COVID-19 except within clinical trials,” Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, tweeted.
A similar warning has also been issued by German healthcare and life sciences giant Merck, whose statement Dr. Swaminathan attached to her tweet. Merck said its scientists continue to “carefully examine findings of all available and emerging studies of ‘Ivermectin’ for treatment of COVID-19”. “We do not believe the data available support the safety and efficacy of ‘ivermectin’ beyond the doses and populations indicated in the regulatory agency-approved prescribing information,” Merck said.
Meanwhile, Goa on Monday recorded 2,804 new cases of coronavirus, taking its tally to 1,21,650, while 50 more fatalities pushed the toll to 1,729, according to a health official.
