The Health Ministry has not completely dismissed the possibility of approving the use of ivermectin in treating Covid-19, once there is solid evidence of its efficacy and side effects, said its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
For now, he said, the Health Ministry only allows “off-label” use of ivermectin until more thorough research has been conducted.
Off-label use means the medication is being used to treat something not listed on its label.
“Right now we can use ivermectin in the country and the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) has approved ‘off-label’ use as we did last time for the anti-malaria and HIV drugs.
“The usage is not registered but it is allowed until we have solid proof,” Noor Hisham said last night, as reported by Berita Harian.
Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug that is currently only licensed for veterinary use in Malaysia.
Noor Hisham explained that the Health Ministry is running studies to identify the efficacy and side effects of the drug when used on Covid-19 patients in categories 3, 4 and 5.
“Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic drug identified in the 70s and it has an antiviral effect. I myself recommended its usage for (treating) dengue about four years ago.
“I made this suggestion because ivermectin has an antiviral effect. We have run studies in Thailand and preliminary research shows that, in order to achieve this antiviral effect, the dose is very high,” he said.
He added that there are also little-known side effects from ivermectin, such as ataxia, seizures and so on.
Currently, the ministry is still reviewing whether ivermectin could be used in treating Covid-19 patients, he stressed.
The ministry is now in the midst of a three-month trial to determine if the drug can prevent elderly Covid-19 patients’ condition from worsening.
Noor Hisham had also previously said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has only recommended the use of ivermectin in a clinical trial setting.
He had also earlier clarified that the off-label use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19 is only for clinical trials, and not upon the request of patients in hospitals.
The clinical trials on using ivermectin to prevent or treat Covid-19 thus far have been inconclusive as the trials themselves are often flawed or too small to discern benefits or both. This necessitated further testing to establish the risks and benefits of the drug.
Nevertheless, certain quarters have pushed for widespread use of ivermectin against Covid-19. They often cite such studies to back their claims or poorly conducted analyses of these studies that fail to properly account for the shortcomings of the trials being analysed. - Mkini
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