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Yesterday, upon completion of its Ivermectin effectiveness test on high-risk Covid-19 patients, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry had found the drug yielded no significant impact on ICU admissions, mechanical ventilation, symptom recovery, blood parameters or chest X-ray resolution.
“The health ministry reiterates that Ivermectin is only used within clinical trials settings with monitoring,” he said.
Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, who was one of those who had argued for the drug’s use in the Dewan Rakyat in July, said “we have to respect that decision”.
“I think we have to follow the science. If this is the result, then this is the decision that the country must follow and abide by,” the PKR man told FMT.
His fellow PKR member, Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul, said the same when contacted.
“The science and data speak for themselves. If the (health) director-general says that it (Ivermectin) is not recommended, then we have to accept that,” Johari said.
He said the earlier calls for Ivermectin’s use were made out of desperation, fuelled by the severity of the Covid-19 situation at the time.
“Things were almost out of control (in July), people were dying, they were being brought to hospitals, cases were climbing quickly, and not much was being done.
“There were reports at the time from many countries, like in certain states in India, that it could be effective, and since the drug had been around for a long time, we knew there was no serious danger to human lives.
“Our contention at the time was that people were dying without medication, and that this was an alternative.”
During the July 27 sitting of the Dewan Rakyat, it was reported that the pair, along with Amanah president Mohamad Sabu (Kota Raja), Khalid Samad (Shah Alam), Sivarasa Rasiah (Sungai Buloh), William Leong (Selayang) and P Prabakaran (Batu), pushed then health minister Dr Adham Baba to allow for Ivermectin’s immediate use.
Leong told FMT yesterday he would study the findings of the health ministry’s report, adding that he had heard about the drug’s effectiveness locally and overseas from a number of people.
Former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad also said he welcomed the results of the ministry’s study, which was conducted under the principle of “evidence-based medicine” and based on data collected through randomised clinical trials.
He said the study “corroborated well and is in sync with other (international) findings”.
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