PETALING JAYA: Two professional health groups said studies show there is “low-certainty” that Ivermectin can be used to effectively treat Covid-19, in the wake of several opposition MPs pushing for the usage of the drug.
“It is imperative that people understand that the uncontrolled use of Ivermectin can cause side effects that may be damaging,” the Malaysian Pharmacists Society and the Malaysian Medical Association said in a joint statement.
They said Ivermectin was a Group B poison that had not been registered in Malaysia to treat Covid-19 although it had been approved for off-label use in clinical trials at 12 hospitals nationwide.
Therefore, the drug cannot be prescribed by any doctor or compounded and dispensed by any pharmacist until the health ministry approves it.
The two groups said they were “appalled and concerned” at the widespread sale of the drug throughout the country, as shown after several raids were conducted by authorities in the past few weeks. They however did not provide details of these raids.
They said the matter was made worse when some MPs and the Consumers Association of Penang were seen to be pushing for the use of this drug against Covid-19 despite the “questionable quality of the evidence”.
Yesterday, several opposition MPs suggested that the drug be used immediately, claiming India and the Philippines had successfully used Ivermectin to reduce infections without any reported side effects.
However, they failed to mention that the health authorities in both countries had not announced this publicly. This led to netizens and medical practitioners ticking off the MPs.
Some members of the public have uploaded videos claiming Ivermectin had helped or “cured” them after they contracted Covid-19.
Meanwhile, health minister Dr Adham Baba said clinical trials of Ivermectin use in Malaysia should be completed by September. - FMT
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