Ivermectin sparks healthy debate amidst Covid pandemic

THE Ivermectin controversy has sparked a debate over how health organisations react during a large scale health crisis and if normal protocols are effective during a pandemic.

ALSO READ: SAHPRA to unveil controlled access programme to Ivermectin 

This prompted the University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN) to host a discussion What the Ivermectin debate has revealed to us in a time of pandemic on Thursday 11 February.

“One scientist may state publicly that Ivermectin obliterates the SARS-CoV-2 virus and another scientist will call it snake oil. Meanwhile, the public has access to Ivermectin and is using it and the evidence they use is anecdotal,” said Colleen Aldous, Research Coordinator at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine.

One of the interesting points made by Dr Warren Parker, a public health scientist, was that the public’s demand to access Ivermectin shows a lack of trust in the authorities’ response to the epidemic.

He used the promotion of wearing face masks in public as an example. 

Originally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) did not recommend it for general use and had even claimed it was not an effective prevention tool, only later to flip-flop on this policy.

South Africa’s policy on face masks shifted mid-April 2020, whereas the WHO only changed their guidance on 5 June 2020. By then people had started looking for solutions beyond official guidance.

The debate around Ivermectin is a similar tale when popular response deviates from official policy.

ALSO READ: Activists call for Ivermectin to be legalised during demonstration

Andy Gray, Division of Pharmacology senior lecturer at UKZN, explained why SAHPRA (South African Health Products Regulatory Authority) has allowed the blanket use of the drug as a treatment of Covid-19: 

Steps have been taken to do rapid reviews of new medicines, but SAHPRA has the responsibility to ensure patients receive quality, scientifically tested medication that is safe to use, said Gray. 

This, unfortunately, can cause frustration for healthcare practitioners and patients, given the limited availability of evidence-based options for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19, he added. 

ALSO READ: UKZN virologist dispells 5 Covid-19 vaccine myths

However, Professor Anisa Mosam, of the Department of Dermatology at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, has prescribed Ivermectin for some time.

Originally used as a veterinary drug, she spoke about how Ivermectin has been successfully repurposed to treat infections like River Blindness.

“It is one of the most broadly used drugs in global health of which 3.7 billion doses have been safely administered as part of Merck’s donation programme.”

Dr Parker warned against dismissing an alternative therapy without first applying critical thinking.

“We need some other rules when responding to Covid-19. We can’t use the same rules that we had in a non-pandemic context.”

ALSO READ: Man arrested at Durban airport with R100k worth of Ivermectin tablets

“Numerous peer-reviewed and other studies confirm positive effects. The positive trend continues,” said Dr Parker.

He is confident Ivermectin can be safely administered under medical supervision.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting