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Overview of the drug ivermectin.
PHOTO: Gallo Images / Ziyaad Douglas
- Dr. George Coetzee took the South African Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to court in an attempt to approve and allow the use of ivermectin in the treatment of Covid-19.
- Coetzee says that patients who are seriously ill with Covid-19 have nothing to lose and should be able to decide for themselves if they want to try ivermectin.
- The spokesman for the national health department, Popo Maja, said that although some studies suggested that ivermectin may be beneficial for the management of Covid-19, the available evidence is “preliminary and of low quality.”
The doctor who went to court for the use of ivermectin to treat Covid-19 wants to give his very sick patients a choice and fight.
Dr. George Coetzee, two of his patients, and AfriForum took the South African Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to court in an attempt to approve and allow the use of ivermectin in the treatment of Covid-19.
Before the matter was heard in court, SAHPRA announced that it would allow use of the drug in exceptional circumstances, in a compassionate and controlled access program, through the use of a Section 21 request.
READ | Ivermectin for use in urgent cases of Covid-19 allowed before Section 21 applications are approved
An interim resolution agreement was also reached, which would allow doctors to treat Covid-19 using ivermectin without having to wait for the result of an approval request.
Coetzee, who has been a physician for 30 years and practices in Pretoria, said he began researching the use of ivermectin after reading about the positive results of its use against Covid-19 around the world.
Having treated patients in the first wave of SARS-Cov-2 infections that Covid-19 causes, Coetzee said the second wave was much more catastrophic and that it was seeing 40 to 60 patients a day who had tested positive.
“People were dying to the left, to the right and to the center. It was massive,” Coetzee said.
READ | SAHPRA to allow the use of ivermectin in Covid-19 in a ‘controlled and compassionate’ program
He added that with the stress in hospitals, ambulances driving with patients looking for an open bed, patients were left with no options.
“Patients stand in front of you asking for help. Family members asking for help.”
The effects of the second wave strengthened Coetzee’s stance on the use of ivermectin, as the treatment of symptoms and the use of vitamins, zinc and Disprin, had little or no effect on sick patients.
He said:
There must be something else, we know there is something else, but we can’t use it.
For Coetzee, defending the use of ivermectin was a logical conclusion, arguing that millions of people had used it.
Coetzee said the drug was safe to use in low doses in a controlled environment and should not be used as a prophylactic, nor should patients take responsibility for using the drug.
He also said he was not advocating the use of the animal version of the drug.
During the second wave, Coetzee said he had patients who had died and regretted not being able to help them even though he knew that ivermectin may have helped prevent their deaths.
READ | Understand ivermectin for humans versus what is available for animal use. We speak with veterinary experts
“They were desperate and I didn’t try something that might have worked. I’m not saying it’s the ultimate drug to beat Covid-19, but it looks promising and safe,” Coetzee said.
He said:
I know it is probably not the miracle cure, but it will most likely have a positive effect.
Coetzee argued that seriously ill Covid-19 patients had “nothing else to lose.”
He said that people should be able to decide for themselves if they wanted to try the treatment and that doctors should have the opportunity to fight for their patients and not just watch them wither helplessly.
“We just want to have a fair chance to save lives.”
Despite SAHPRA’s new stance on ivermectin, the Covid-19 subcommittee of the National Committee for the Essential Medicines List said there was not yet enough evidence to recommend ivermectin for the treatment or prevention of Covid-19.
In a statement last week, the spokesman for the national health department, Popo Maja, said that while some studies suggested that ivermectin may be beneficial for the management of Covid-19, the available evidence was “preliminary and of low quality.” .
Maja said:
Studies vary widely in the severity of the participants’ illness, the drugs ivermectin was compared to, and the additional drugs the participants received.
Maja added that several studies were being conducted to investigate the efficacy and safety of ivermectin in managing Covid-19, and that the study findings would provide the department with more scientific data to make informed decisions about ivermectin.
“As new data becomes available, the subcommittee will continually review and modify the recommendations accordingly.”
“In the meantime, we advise against the use of ivermectin outside of well-conducted randomized controlled trials.”
