Rehoboth gobbles up Ivermectin stock
JEMIMA BEUKES AND OGONE THLAGE
WINDHOEK
Many residents of Rehoboth, the community hardest hit by Covid-19 after Windhoek, are refusing to report to hospitals out of fear of dying from the virus and have begun self-medicating with Ivermectin.
While some are buying the animal tonic sold by Agra stores countrywide, others have had the tablets imported from South Africa.
That country recently allowed the drug to be used to treat Covid-19 patients.
“I am not going to the hospital; I am just drinking that sheep medicine from Agra. Everyone who goes to the hospital is dying,” a Covid-19-infected woman living at the town said.
Several of her relatives have also been diagnosed with the dreadful disease.
Another woman who used the medicine said her doctor administrated the syrup based on her weight.
“I was close to 60 kilograms and I was given two millilitres. When you take the first dosage, you have to wait for three days and the third you take few days later,” she said.
The woman has since recovered from Covid-19 and is back at work.
Another said she takes sips of the Ivermectin as a preventative tonic every morning.
No vaccine for us
Meanwhile, several Rehoboth residents are refusing to take the vaccine, and have instead ordered Ivermectin to use as preventative measure or as a treatment, should they contract the virus.
Namibian Sun made a call to the town’s Agra outlet and learnt that the product is out of stock.
The town’s pharmacies are also currently out of stock and will have the product back on shelves by the weekend.
Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic agent for both human and veterinary use and has been used for a number of tropical diseases such as lice and scabies in humans, while it is used for parasites in animals.
Namibian doctors have recently petitioned the health ministry to demand that the medicine - which is approved for the use of humans in South Africa - be approved for the use of Covid-19 in Namibia as well.
The Namibia Medicines Regulatory Council (NMRC) is expected to make a decision on the matter this week.
‘Rampaging’ scourge
Dr Panduleni Itula, leader of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), has also called on government to legalise the use of Ivermectin to treat the ‘rampaging’ scourge of Covid-19.
“Under these circumstances, it would be politically correct to advance the idea to our doctors to use every mechanism that they can think of within their scientific ethical principles to treat their patients to prevent the spread of the disease or rather to prevent them from succumbing to the disease.
“This is not a situation where politics must now triumph. This is a situation where we need to think logically as citizens,” he said.
[email protected]
WINDHOEK
Many residents of Rehoboth, the community hardest hit by Covid-19 after Windhoek, are refusing to report to hospitals out of fear of dying from the virus and have begun self-medicating with Ivermectin.
While some are buying the animal tonic sold by Agra stores countrywide, others have had the tablets imported from South Africa.
That country recently allowed the drug to be used to treat Covid-19 patients.
“I am not going to the hospital; I am just drinking that sheep medicine from Agra. Everyone who goes to the hospital is dying,” a Covid-19-infected woman living at the town said.
Several of her relatives have also been diagnosed with the dreadful disease.
Another woman who used the medicine said her doctor administrated the syrup based on her weight.
“I was close to 60 kilograms and I was given two millilitres. When you take the first dosage, you have to wait for three days and the third you take few days later,” she said.
The woman has since recovered from Covid-19 and is back at work.
Another said she takes sips of the Ivermectin as a preventative tonic every morning.
No vaccine for us
Meanwhile, several Rehoboth residents are refusing to take the vaccine, and have instead ordered Ivermectin to use as preventative measure or as a treatment, should they contract the virus.
Namibian Sun made a call to the town’s Agra outlet and learnt that the product is out of stock.
The town’s pharmacies are also currently out of stock and will have the product back on shelves by the weekend.
Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic agent for both human and veterinary use and has been used for a number of tropical diseases such as lice and scabies in humans, while it is used for parasites in animals.
Namibian doctors have recently petitioned the health ministry to demand that the medicine - which is approved for the use of humans in South Africa - be approved for the use of Covid-19 in Namibia as well.
The Namibia Medicines Regulatory Council (NMRC) is expected to make a decision on the matter this week.
‘Rampaging’ scourge
Dr Panduleni Itula, leader of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), has also called on government to legalise the use of Ivermectin to treat the ‘rampaging’ scourge of Covid-19.
“Under these circumstances, it would be politically correct to advance the idea to our doctors to use every mechanism that they can think of within their scientific ethical principles to treat their patients to prevent the spread of the disease or rather to prevent them from succumbing to the disease.
“This is not a situation where politics must now triumph. This is a situation where we need to think logically as citizens,” he said.
[email protected]
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