Some countries allow ivermectin use to treat Covid

Use of parasite medication to treat coronavirus patients approved in Slovakia | Slovak Spectator: 

January 27, 2021 - "Ivermectin, a medication used to treat many types of parasite infestations, can now be used to treat coronavirus patients in hospitals and obtained from pharmacies with a prescription. The Health Ministry approved the therapeutic use of this medication for six months. It will be used with other treatments, its spokesperson Zuzana Eliášová said, as reported by the TASR newswire.

"The medication can be legally imported to Slovakia and given to patients. With such a step, the ministry fulfilled the request of the association of Slovak anaesthetists, the Denník N daily reported. Until now, Ivermectin was officially approved to be used only for animals, which is why people generally buy it abroad."

Read more: https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22583299/use-of-parasite-medication-to-treat-coronavirus-patients-approved-in-slovakia.html

South Africa Allows Use of Parasite Drug in Covid Patients | Bloomberg - Janice Kew:

January 27, 2021 - "South African authorities approved the use of a drug used to control parasites in humans and livestock to treat coronavirus patients. The medicine, known as ivermectin, will be allowed for use on compassionate grounds in a controlled-access program, the head of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority said Wednesday. Medical practitioners who apply to the regulator to use the drug will be considered on a case-by-case basis, Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela said.

"Ivermectin has been used for decades to treat livestock infested with parasitic worms, while in humans it’s used as a topical ointment for diseases including skin infections and inflammation. The World Health Organization has suggested the drug has encouraging effects on coronavirus, though like other regulators it’s also said the medication hasn’t been properly evaluated. The drug won’t be limited to patients with known Covid-19 co-morbidities, Semete-Makokotlela said.

"The regulator is already seeing widespread use of ivermectin in an emerging black market, as South Africa grapples with a second wave of coronavirus infections that’s resulted in hospital admissions soaring and a shortage of critical-care beds. Allowing controlled use of the drug will help the regulator monitor its use and enable the body to collect much-needed safety data."

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-27/south-africa-allows-use-of-parasite-drug-to-treat-covid-patients

Zimbabwe OKs use of Ivermectin after officials' deaths | Anadolu Agency - John Cassim:

January 28, 2021 - "Zimbabwe has approved the use and import of the anti-parasite drug Ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients. 

"'In these difficult times of COVID-19 treatment, we have to be careful to protect patients as well as not to deny them effective treatment regimes,” said a statement by the Health Ministry addressed to the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ). 'It is in this regard, the authority is hereby granted for you to proceed to allow importation and use of these medicines under the supervision and guidance you outlined. Ivermectin can be evaluated for both treatment and prophylaxis,' the ministry said.

"This ministry’s decision comes a few days after the deaths of three cabinet ministers and several top government officials from COVID-19 in a short period of time. Owing to the fact that Ivermectin was not registered for use in Zimbabwe, COVID-19 patients ended up using the Ivermectin product meant for animals....

"Two weeks ago, the medicines control body threatened to arrest anyone found to be administering Ivermectin to humans."

Read more: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/zimbabwe-oks-use-of-ivermectin-after-officials-deaths/2125442