The Central Health Ministry’s circular dropping Ivermectin and other drugs from the permitted list for Covid treatment is a welcome step towards safeguarding the health of citizens. But what does Goa do now with the stocks of the drug that the State has? While that being the case, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane needs to answer the logic and hurry behind sourcing the drug by investing a huge Rs 22.5 crore, especially when Ivermectin was facing controversy across the world. Goans need an account of this money and how the government will salvage the losses now that the drug is redundant.
Given the backdrop that Ivermectin was a contentious drug with no recommendations from global health bodies like World Health Organization, US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency to use it for Covid treatment or as prophylaxis, what prompted Rane to prescribe it to all Goans above the age of 18 in dosage of 12mg for five days? Why were expert panels cited from the UK, Italy, Spain, and Japan when the top world agencies had disapproved it?
The treatment, according to the State health ministry was to prevent the viral load, when medical studies have found out that the dosage required to achieve an antiviral effect is significantly higher than what has been approved for human use and it could prove to be toxic. Let's not forget, the Indian Council of Medical Research recommended that doctors could use the drug for mild Covid symptoms, but cautioned that this is based on "low certainty of evidence". A report published in the journal Antiviral Research last year mentioned that Ivermectin “warrants further investigation for possible benefits in humans.” What was that one benefit that drew the health minister towards this drug?
The move to hastily prescribe the drug is questionable because there is a vaccination drive underway and all State governments are focused on immunizing citizens. Investing such huge public money in a fast-evolving medical space appears suspicious. Ever since Covid surfaced in March 2020, lines of treatment have changed and newer drugs have emerged. Many drugs which were prescribed initially have now been rendered ineffective or toxic. For example, plasma therapy which was deemed to be life-saving at the onset of Covid has been delisted from the ICMR's treatment plan after studies showed that it has no impact on the recovery time of patients.
The new guidelines issued now directs States to drop drugs like Hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin, Favipiravir, Doxycycline, Zinc, multivitamins, etc from prescriptions while retaining only antipyretic drugs for fever and antitussive for cold symptoms. The ministry has also discouraged medical practitioners from prescribing unnecessary tests related to Covid infection such as CT scans.
The decision to go for Ivermectin, overriding the controversy it is facing, appears malafide and not with pure intentions to safeguard the health of citizens. Goa cannot afford to throw away such money at this juncture when the State is in a deep financial crisis. There has to be an independent inquiry in this decision-making and the irrational use of public funds.
