WITH COVID-19 cases rising across the nation, Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan (Patriot) urged Health Ministry (MOH) director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah on the approval status of Ivermectin, a drug used as prophylaxis (treatment against a disease) and therapeutic agent for COVID-19.
“In January, you mentioned that the ministry would be conducting clinical trial to ascertain the efficacy of Ivermectin. To this day, we have heard nothing of the study.
“In the current situation where the infections are escalating, there is a pressing need to use a safe and proven medication to complement our vaccination campaign,” said its Director of Public Communications Capt (Rtd) Dr Wong Ang Peng, in an open letter.
On the efficacy of the drug, as noted by several medical journals, Wong said Ivermectin has the following results:
- Since 2012, multiple in vitro studies have demonstrated that Ivermectin inhibits the replication of many viruses, including influenza, zika, dengue, and others.
- Ivermectin inhibits SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) replication and binding to host tissue through several observed and proposed mechanisms.
- Ivermectin has potent anti-inflammatory properties with in vitro data, demonstrating profound inhibition of both cytokine production and transcription of nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), the most potent mediator of inflammation.
- Ivermectin significantly diminishes viral load and protects against organ damage in multiple animal models, when infected with COVID-19 or other coronaviruses.
- Ivermectin prevents transmission and development of COVID-19 disease in those exposed to infected patients.
- Ivermectin hastens recovery and prevents deterioration in patients, with mild to moderate disease treated early after symptoms.
- Ivermectin hastens recovery and avoidance of ICU admission and death in hospitalised patients.
- Ivermectin reduces mortality in critically ill patients suffering from COVID-19.
- Ivermectin leads to temporally associated reductions in case fatality rates in regions after its distribution campaigns.
- The safety, availability and cost of Ivermectin are nearly unparalleled, given its low incidence of important drug interactions along with only mild and rare side effects observed in almost 40 years of use and billions of doses administered.
- The World Health Organization has long included Ivermectin in its “List of Essential Medicines”.
“With that, we hope Noor Hisham and researchers in MOH find time to read the review paper by Kory and colleagues and take appropriate action,” he added.
In March, the AFP quoted the European Medicines Agency (EMA) advising against the use of Ivermectin for coronavirus treatment outside clinical trials, despite headlines touting it as a “miracle cure”.
“EMA has reviewed the latest evidence on the use of Ivermectin for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and concluded that the available data do not support its use for the novel coronavirus outside well-designed clinical trials,” it was reported saying.
The Amsterdam-based agency said it had not received any application for authorisation of the drug, which has long been used to treat parasites such as head lice and for river blindness in sub-Saharan Africa. – May 10, 2021
