Health DG: Ivermectin will not be used to treat Covid-19, no evidence of efficacy

PETALING JAYA: The drug Ivermectin will not be used in Malaysia to treat Covid-19 as there is no evidence to back its effectiveness, says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

"The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) said there were no products containing Ivermectin as its active ingredient that is registered with the Drug Control Authority (DCA) that can be consumed by humans," he said.

He said other bodies including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) did not recommend nor approve the use of Ivermectin to treat or prevent Covid-19 because of the lack of scientific evidence.

"For the time being, the World Health Organisation only allows Ivermectin in clinical trials to treat Covid-19.

"Therefore, the use of Ivermectin in Malaysia can only be used in clinical trials," he said.

Ivermectin is generally used to treat parasitic infestations.

Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah also said there were also 11 new clusters, four of which were linked to educational institutions in Selangor and Johor.

Three clusters were linked to the community in Kelantan, Sarawak and Perak; two were linked to workplaces in Selangor and Sabah; and another two linked to religious institutions in Johor and Sabah.

"There are now 470 active clusters in the country out of a total 1,887 recorded clusters," he said in a statement on Sunday (May 16).

However, 36 more people died of the virus on Sunday bringing the death toll to 1,902.

The dead were aged between 29 and 90, most of whom had co-morbidities and only one out of the deceased was a non-citizen.