Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic medicine used to treat mostly animals and sometimes humans. But, during the COVID pandemic, it was hailed as an effective deterrent against the virus.

But, that has been debunked in study after study - yet, here in the Central Health Region - they continue to distribute ivermectin to persons who have tested motive for COVID 19 at a public clinic even though it has been debunked.

And, we'll quote the BBC here, quote, "health authorities in the US, UK and EU have found there is insufficient evidence for using the drug against Covid.."

International news reports say, quote, "more than a third of 26 major trials of the drug for use on Covid have serious errors or signs of potential fraud. None of the rest show convincing evidence of ivermectin's effectiveness." End quote.

But it is still used in Belize and that will continue according to the Minster of Health and wellness yesterday.



Channel 7

Ministry of Health No Longer Recommending Ivermectin to Treat COVID

The Ministry of Health will no longer recommend Ivermectin as a treatment drug for COVID-19. The decision comes after medical professionals; both at home and abroad have indicated that Ivermectin is not effective in the treatment of the virus. But even though the infection rate for COVID is on the decline, if there is ever a need for an alternative treatment, it would be something that is far more costly than the one we have been using.

Dr. Fernando Cuellar, Internist
“The evidence has shown that it is not as effective as initially thought so you would see now that it’s not recommended in COVID patients. At the beginning (of the pandemic) even myself was using it – prescribing it and I can remember I had also said publicly that I would be recommending it, but that has changed, so we’re no longer recommending the Ivermectin as part of the COVID use. I’m sure that we can continue having some debates about its use because it’s a little bit effective – less effective than we thought – it’s safe, and the other big factor about it is that it’s very cheap. There’s still some debate, but now I can tell you that the debate now leans to not using it for SARS COVID.”

And the Ministry of Health is taking that recommendation to not use the drug to treat COVID patients. Today, while he was occupied in a Cabinet retreat and could not grant an interview, Minister of Health, Kevin Bernard informed News Five that “our official position is that we are not prescribing or promoting the use of Ivermectin for the treatment of COVID. Even though you can find some studies still advocating its use, the majority of studies have not proven its effectiveness”. Indeed there are still arguments in some quarters of the medical profession as to the drug’s efficacy, Internist, Dr. Fernando Cuellar states, but less so now.

Channel 5