PRIVATE hospitals in the country are not using the anti-parasitic medication Ivermectin to treat their Covid-19 patients, the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) said today.

APHM president Dr Kuljit Singh said most of its 152 members consulted have said they are not using Ivermectin for treating Covid-19, in any category.

He dismissed as fake news on social media that some private hospitals had some success using this medication, which is not approved by  the World Health Organization and the United States Food and Drug Administration.

“Private hospitals have been treating Covid-19 patients since January 2021 using treatment protocols, which are approved with evidence-based guidelines by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and international medical societies and Ivermectin is not included within,” he said.

Kuljit pointed out there has been a recent announcement of prescribing Ivermectin as an ‘off label’ for Covid-19 by MOH but to be administered in a monitored environment.

He said MOH has some of their hospitals conducting clinical trials on Ivermectin but none of the private hospitals are participating in the trial.

“Private hospitals will be very cautious of using any medication that is still in its research stage without any concrete evidence of its effectiveness,” he said, adding they may only use Ivermectin after approval with detailed guidelines from the government.

“However, there has been no indication of this as yet.” – July 26, 2021.