Pretoria - Even though the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) has granted the availability of the “wonder drug” ivermectin the green-light stakeholders are still calling for caution in its roll-out to the public.
The Department of Health announced that despite the recent decision by the regulatory body to give the drug the nod, it would still be continuing to discourage the use of the drug outside of well-conducted randomised controlled trials.
According to the departmental spokesperson, Popo Maja, the National Essential Medicines List Committee on Covid-19 had advised this stance as there remained insufficient evidence to recommend Ivermectin for the treatment of Covid-19.
Maja said while some studies had suggested that ivermectin could be of benefit for the management of the virus, the evidence currently available was at best “preliminary and of low quality”.
“The studies vary widely in terms of disease severity of participants, medicines with which ivermectin was compared and additional medicines that participants received.
In the meantime, Maja indicated that the department would await the outcomes of several studies currently underway on the management of Covid-19 through the use of ivermectin.
He said through the scientific data presented by these studies the department would then be able to make an informed decision about its use for the management of the pandemic.
“As the new data becomes available, the sub-committee will on an ongoing basis review and amend the recommendations accordingly. In the meantime, we discourage the use of ivermectin.”
The South African Medical Association, on the other hand, has said the lifting of the prohibition on the use of ivermectin in exceptional circumstances and in a “controlled, compassionate, access programme” was a step in the right direction.
Despite this, it noted that there remained a need to ensure that all understood its uses and for strict guidelines to be implemented.
“Sahpra said it would allow the use of ivermectin in “exceptional” circumstances by doctors and healthcare practitioners and we agree that it would need to work with doctors closely in regard to monitoring as this is a vital part of the process.”
“However, we want to stress our earlier position that clinical trials of ivermectin are inconclusive for human use and that more trials must be done,” said Dr Angelique Coetzee, Chairperson of South African Medical Association.
Pretoria News