AfriForum and doctors group put pressure on authorities to provide ivermectin information

18 May 2021  

The civil rights organisation AfriForum and the I can make a difference doctors group today requested the review documents of various health institutions relating to the use of ivermectin for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 to be provided to them. This request comes as the Ministry of Health confirmed the arrival of the third wave of COVID-19 infections in the country.

The civil organisations requested the review documents after Prof. Helen Rees, Board Chairperson of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), during an interview with Daily Maverick indicated that SAHPRA, the National Essential Medicines List Committee (NEMLC), the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 (MAC) and the Infectious Diseases Society of Southern Africa (IDSSA) all independently reviewed the data available on ivermectin for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19.

“We cannot find the review documents of SAHPRA, the MAC or the IDSSA online. The rapid review of ivermectin compiled by the NEMLC that is available online is dated 25 January 2021. It is now very clear that effective early treatment of COVID-19 is essential to combat the pandemic. We are concerned that the current recommendation on ivermectin, a medicine showing clear benefit in the treatment of COVID-19, is based on outdated information,” says Barend Uys, Head of Research at AfriForum.

AfriForum and I can make a difference on 12 May 2021 wrote to authorities imploring them to recommend ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 in the light of the next wave of COVID-19 infections starting in South Africa.

“SAHPRA regularly states that the use of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 is continuously reviewed as new data becomes available. It is concerning that review documents cannot be found and that the documents that can be found are four months old. This casts doubt on SAHPRA’s commitment to make repurposed medicines for the effective early treatment of COVID-19 available,” says Dr Naseeba Kathrada, founder of the I can make a difference group of doctors.

Issued by Chanté Kelder, Media Relations Officer, AfriForum, 18 May 2021