Ivermectin: Are students willing to take the drug?

More and more people across South Africa are using the antiparasitic drug Ivermectin to prevent and treat Covid-19 infection.

Ivermectin has largely been used to treat animals for parasitic infections in the past and has not been approved by SAHPRA (South African Health Products Regulatory Authority) for human use. In a media release on 28 January, SAHPRA stated that people are using Ivermectin intended for veterinary use and that the drug is often sourced from illegal imports. SAHPRA banned the prescription of Ivermectin by doctors in January, which resulted in the increased use of veterinary Ivermectin. Ascendis group CEO Mark Sardi told Business Insider South Africa in January “We have noticed a sharp increase in demand for our products containing Ivermectin.

This has caused the black-market sale of the drug to increase at a dramatic rate. Subsequently the price of some Ivermectin products rose by 1800%. Food for Mzanzi reported in an article on 28 January that Ivermectin was sold by some retailers as high as R900 per bottle, where it used to be sold for only R49 until recently.

Ivermectin for human use was selling for R10 per tablet on the black market, according to an IOL report in January, but prices rose to between R1,500 and R3,000 for ten tablets. Times LIVE reported in January that within two weeks, R6 million worth of Ivermectin was confiscated from foreign nationals at OR Tambo airport customs.

SAHPRA is being challenged in court to lift the ban on Ivermectin. Hannes Strydom, pharmacist and owner of Pharma Valu, Afriforum, and the African Democratic Christian Party (ACDP) have joined forces to challenge the legality of the ban. The case will be heard from 29 to 31 March.

Afriforum stated in a media release on 25 February that SAPHRA failed to inform the public that they are yet to register Ivermectin as medicine in the Government Gazette, and that the drug “had been legal all along” under the Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965. There have been many medical professionals in the country who have also spoken out about the drug, opposing the recent ban on doctors’ prescribing Ivermectin.

Threestreamsmedia asked 12 students at the North-West University (NWU) Potchefstroom campus whether they would take Ivermectin as a preventative or treatment drug against Covid-19. Of the 12, five said that they would take Ivermectin, while four said they would not. The other three students were unsure. They said that they would wait for more research to be done on human use of Ivermectin before deciding.

Several doctors and pharmacists in the Potchefstroom area declined to comment on the efficacy and safety of Ivermectin for the treatment and prevention of Covid-19.