GOVERNMENT is clinically testing anti-parasite drug, Ivermectin in a bid to establish its efficacy in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The second wave of COVID-19 currently affecting the country
has resulted in 1 075 deaths as at yesterday.
This was revealed by acting Health secretary, Robert
Mudyiradima on Monday when he appeared before a virtual committee hearing by
the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care chaired by Ruth
Labode.
Mudyiradima told MPs that government was in the process of
clinically trying Ivermectin, which has not been banned in the country, but has
been allowed for individual COVID-19 applications.
“Its widespread use is limited until clinical trials that
are underway to prove its efficacy in treating COVID-19 patients are proven,”
Mudyiradima said.
“The therapeutics for COVID-19 treatment such as the
zumbani herbal plant, steaming and Ivermectin are still being studied for their
efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19,” he added.
However, recently a prominent medical practitioner, Jackie
Stone stoked controversy in the medical fraternity after prescribing
Ivermectin, Doxycycline and Nano Silver as COVID-19 therapy, reportedly despite
lack of clinical evidence that they were safe.
Other medical practitioners said her prescriptions were “a
worrying combination of therapy for patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and
COVID-19”.
The Medical and Dental Professional Council of Zimbabwe
also wrote a letter of complaint about Stone’s behaviour to the Medical and
Dental Professional Council of Zimbabwe registrar Josephine Mwakutuya last
week, demanding that her fitness to continue practising in the country should
be reviewed.
But the Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) wrote
to Vice-President and Health minister Constantino Chiwenga (pictured), seeking
authorisation of Ivermectin for prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
“There is increasing evidence that the anti-parasite drug
Ivermectin has the potential to improve outcomes for patients affected by
COVID-19. It also protects or prevents infection of both high risk individuals
such as healthcare workers and those exposed to contacts of persons infected
with COVID-19,” a letter dated January 18 by Emcoz vice-president Demos Mbauya
read.
He further claimed that evidence showed that the veterinary
vaccine could reduce the need for hospitalisation of COVID-19 patients and
shortens healing time.
Mbauya said while there was veterinary and human
formulations of Ivermectin, their proposal referred only to the human version
of the vaccine, whereby more than three billion doses have already been
administered worldwide.
“The medicine is on the World Health Organisation (WHO)
list of essential medicines and it won the Nobel Prize in 2015 for its
beneficial impact on humanity. The medicine has an excellent safety profile and
most of the side-effects associated with the use of Ivermectin are side-effects
resulting from the body eliminating the parasites that have been killed by it,”
he said.
Health experts welcomed the on-going clinical trial of
Ivermectin. Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association
interim president, Johannes Marisa said: “So it has been used prophylactically
as a treatment.
It will be very good for the ministry to stimulate research
about the use of Ivermectin. The research can be conducted using a cohort
method after you make a follow up of patients after administering.”
He said it probably could play a very significant role in
reducing morbidity and mortality. “If the drug is working then it’s wise that
as a nation we get it en-masse and we administer to as many people as
possible,” Marisa said.
Mpilo Central Hospital chief executive Solwayo Ngwenya
said: “The use of Ivermectin is meant for parasitic organisms for veterinary
medicines. We recommend that medicines that have to be used in humans have to
undergo strict checks before they are allowed to be prescribed. For example, we
need to know the doses of how much Ivermectin must be administered, its side-effects
and so forth,” Ngwenya said.
Zimbabwean doctors, who are at the forefront of fighting
COVID-19, also wrote to the Health ministry seeking permission to use
Ivermectin and Nano Silver to treat COVID-19.
Stone, who has been prescribing Ivermectin to her patients,
said her current focus was to get it regularised, adding that if its use was
further delayed, that would result in the country experiencing 75% unnecessary
COVID-19 deaths.
“I will leave the issue of validation to the appropriate
authorities. To the best of my knowledge, no actual charges were laid on me and
I am free to continue to practise as normal. The allegations made by my
colleagues need to be substantiated, which they have been unable to do,” Stone
said.
She said the affected persons “she harmed” should be the
ones to register complaints over her behaviour, adding that she would send some
testimonials to prove the efficacy of the vaccine.
In a letter dated January 24 written to the Health ministry
secretary Jasper Chimedza by the College of Primary Care Physicians of
Zimbabwe, claimed to have successfully used Ivermectin in conjunction with Nano
Silver, with the treatment registering good results.
“We feel comfortable using this drug which has been around
for 40 years on the WHO essential drugs list and has an excellent safety
profile. We understand that it was currently not registered in Zimbabwe, but we
fill out section 75 forms for non-registered drugs all the time in the course
of our practice,” part of the letter signed by 23 local doctors read.
Following the diligent efforts of physicians associated
with a United States group called Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance,
the US’s National Institutes of Health last week upgraded their recommendations
for the “miraculous” drug Ivermectin, making it an option for use in treating
COVID-19 within the United States.
The United Kingdom has also approved the use of the
vaccine, a report in The Times publication said.
Last week in South Africa, a group of doctors, clinicians,
pharmacists, public health specialists and scientists interested in exploring
the potential of Ivermectin to prevent and treat COVID-19 lodged application with the SA Health Products
Regulatory Authority seeking permission for doctors to prescribe the drug to
their patients.
According to the doctors, Ivermectin has been approved for
use at provincial level in Argentina, at the State level in India and country
level in Belize and Macedonia, while possible use was being explored in the US
and Australia. Newsday
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