Calls grow louder for Ivermectin to be endorsed for Covid-19
By Mervyn Naidoo
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Durban - Calls to authorities for the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin to be endorsed for the treatment of the Covid-19 virus continue to grow louder.
With Covid-19 deaths continuing to grow at an alarming rate, appeals to President Cyril Ramaphosa to review the countryâs stance on Ivermectin were raised in a petition endorsed by nearly 100 medical professionals, and included a Durban doctorâs letter.
In the letter circulated this week, the president was reminded about the evidence which confirms the drugâs potency. But the standard laid down by the South African Health Products Authority (Sahpra), the medicine regulatory authority, is that Ivermectin is not for human consumption locally.
Soyiso Maliti > By Soyiso Maliti - 12 January 2021 - 11:13 The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority prohibited Ivermectin for human consumption last month after it emerged on several social media platforms that it was being promoted as a cure for Covid-19. Stock photo. Image: 123rf/Jarun Ontakrai
The Eastern Cape health department will investigate a prescription for Ivermectin, the controversial drug used in the treatment of animals but touted as a Covid-19 cure, which appears to have been signed at Tayler Bequest Hospital in Matatiele. It also carries the department’s stamp.
The medication has not been sanctioned by either the health department or the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra).
Bail bid for man arrested at Durban airport for trying to smuggle Ivermectin tablets 07 January 2021 - 10:53 Police seized a consignment of Ivermectin from a man at the King Shaka International Airport in Durban on Wednesday Image: Supplied
A 43-year-old man will make a bid for bail on Friday after he was arrested at Durban s King Shaka International Airport on Wednesday allegedly with more than 2,400 Ivermectin tablets in his possession.
The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) prohibited the drug for human consumption on December 22 after it emerged on several social media platforms that the drug was being promoted on local groups as having “cured” people of Covid-19.
Thursday 7 January 2021 - 6:30pm
Police have arrested a 43-year-old man for illegally being in possession of ivermectin, valued at R100,000. Mawande Kheswa has more. Courtesy #DStv403
DURBAN - Authorities are clamping down on the dispensing of ivermectin a drug used to kill parasites in animals - and which is baselessly being touted as a treatment for COVID-19.
The South African Health Products Authority (SAHPRA) does not recommend its use.
Police have already arrested a 43-year-old man for illegally being in possession of ivermectin valued at 100,000.
SAHPRA s Yuven Gounden said a Pakistani national was arrested at the King Shaka international airport on Tuesday.