By Naadiya Adams – @Miss_Naadiya

Extensive research is being done around the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin use in fighting COVID-19.

A petition signed by over 100 South African medical practitioners and penned in an open letter by Durban based Dr Naseeba Kathrada, is calling on President Ramaphosa to engage stakeholders in the matter.

South African Health Products Authority (Sahpra), the medicine regulatory authority, is however firm in its stance that the drug is not fit for human consumption and until more research is done to prove otherwise, they remain unmoved.

In an interview with Radio Islam at the weekend, Dr Kathrada appealed to Ramaphosa as she read out the letter.

“Mr President, I woke up this morning to the news that we have just experienced our country’s deadliest week with over 20 000 deaths in the past 7 days in this second wave. Mr President, we are living in unprecedented times and right now – families are left shattered by the hour. Morale amongst healthcare workers is the lowest it’s ever been and we on the frontline are exhausted. You – Mr President have the authority and the ability to give us some hope in this dark hour.”

Kathrada is urging Ramaphosa to set up a special council in which to review the drug, she believes the announcement of a council alone will give hope to families and re-energize the frontline workers who are extremely fatigued.

While Kathrada acknowledged Sahpra’s jurisdiction, she believes it’s ridiculous to call for doctors to make a Section 21 application on behalf of each patient to use Ivermectin in Covid-19 cases as they see around 60 patients a day.

“Give us the freedom of choice to take this drug as prophylaxis (a preventative measure) so that we have a better chance to be around when the vaccine arrives and help with the rollout,” appealed Kathrada.

Yuven Gounden, Sahpra’s spokesperson, echoed that Ivermectin was not authorised as a prophylaxis for Covid-19. He says they had already turned down Section 21 applications.

“When new emerging evidence has been reviewed by Sahpra and is found to be supportive for the treatment of Covid-19 infections, then Section 21 applications will be authorised for the human use formulation of Ivermectin.”

He said the interest in Ivermectin multiplied when the second wave of infections emerged.

“The first wave was between June and September and that has not prompted any applicant to submit a randomized controlled clinical trial application to research the use of Ivermectin in the treatment and prevention of Covid-19.”

While Ivermectin has been cleared for use in some countries, it remains only authorised for use in animals in South Africa.

Gounden did however say that Sahpra was open to considering new and emerging clinical data to review its stance on the matter.

Read the full letter here: 

15 January 2021

A plea for hope ???? and trust ???????? in these unprecedented times.

Honourable President Ramaphosa

My name is Dr Naseeba Kathrada. I am a general practitioner in Durban – Kwazulu Natal.

Mr President, I woke up this morning to the news that we have just experienced our country’s deadliest week with over 20 000 deaths in the past 7 days in this second wave. Mr President, we are living in unprecedented times and right now – families are left shattered by the hour. Morale amongst healthcare workers is the lowest it’s ever been and we on the frontline are exhausted.

You – Mr President have the authority and the ability to give us some hope in this dark hour.

You announced a state of emergency, you authorised the setting up or emergency committees like the NCC and the MAC. We have covid ‘war rooms’ in every province and you locked down our country to level 3 to save lives and livelihoods.

You – Honourable President have the authority to set up an urgent special council to do a thorough and rapid review of Ivermectin. Just the announcement of such a council will bring some hope back to families who have infected loved ones. We as frontline workers, will be re-energised knowing that you trust us to uphold the oath ‘first do no harm’ by giving us this potent anti- inflammatory drug to add to our seemingly defenceless fight against this new strain.

I fully appreciate the need for a body like SAHPRA- but let’s face it Mr President – they are not the most popular organisation amongst lay people and healthcare workers alike at this point.

Asking for doctors to apply for a section 21 per patient while some of us are seeing over 60 covid positive cases per day is nothing short of ridiculous. Have you seen that application form Mr President ? And now they want each submission to be done via their online portal. These coupled with a R300 fee per submission is the reason why no doctors will bother. We just DO NOT have the time !

What about that absurd request to do a trial!
1 – Ivermectin has been around since 1975
2 – it is FDA approved and authorised for human use in many countries around the world
3 – 4 countries have now added it to their Covid Treatment protocol
4 – ivermectin has won the Nobel prize in medicine
5 – most importantly – Mr President – the logistics of running a trial while 20 000 people are dying in a week is beyond comprehension. There’s no money in running a trial for a refurbished drug, there’s no time to sit and fill in forms per person enrolled in a trial – moreover in full PPE. All this after ethics approval and recruitment etc etc etc
With the black market mushrooming we cannot even dream of doing a placebo controlled trial knowing that candidates who supposed to be on placebo can buy ivermectin from Justin Casey down the road or from his friend – Al Reddy and if they don’t have any then Senzo Siza will definitely hook them up.

Mr President – people are dying.
Mr President – families are despondent and hopeless.
Mr President we are exhausted and helpless.

I am by no means calling Ivermectin a ‘Miracle drug’ – what I am saying is that it is a safe drug – your Urgent Ivermectin Review Committee will attest to that- of that .. I am certain. SAHPRA’s first of 3 pillars is SAFETY.
There are hundreds of studies done already and new data is emerging daily showing the promise of ivermectin. Your committee can review all this data which is readily and easily available.
There is no need or time for a formal application at this time.

Respected President – I implore you at this time of need – legalise ivermectin – trust us – the health professionals who are the most vulnerable against this disease – to dispense ivermectin with informed consent. Give us the freedom of choice to take this drug as prophylaxis so that we have a better chance to be around when the vaccine arrives to help roll that out.

Mr President – you have thousands of astute medical minds working tirelessly for months now – spare a few of them for 24hrs to do an urgent review of ivermectin

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures.

Give hope back to the people who have loved ones infected knowing that there is something more that can be done to save their infected family members who are lonely and alone in overcrowded hospitals.

Give us, the country’s frontline workers and first line of defence – your trust. Armour us with this safe drug so that we know that we are doing everything possible to save our patients lives.

Freedom of choice is a democratic right of the people of South Africa

My name is Dr Naseeba Kathrada – Mr President –
On behalf of all those signed in agreement below
I … Thank You

Dr Naseeba Kathrada – MB.ChB (Natal)
Dr Martin Gill
ENT Specialist
Dr Neetu Govender Registered Chiropractor
MT Chiro SA
Dr Karla Hechter-Schulz MB ChB. DTMH
Dr Jyothi Sookram
MBBCh (wits) BSc Hons(UNP)
Dr R.N.Singh
MB ChB. (Natal)
Dr S Mkhize MBChB( Natal) DA(SA) MMed Anaes.
Dr Kevin Naidu
MBChB (UNITRA)
Anisa Mosam
MBChB, FC Derm, Mmed, PhD ( UKZN)
Dr E Y Vahed
MBChB(UKZN)
Velo Govender
Social work Private Practitioner (UKZN)
Dr. S. A. Sunichur- MB BS (Utkal)
DR. Y. Nagdee(MBBCh)
Dr Mahomed I I Moola
MBBCh(wits)DCH(SA)DA(SA)
FCFP(SA)
Dr C Rughoobeer B Pharm, MB ChB
Dr S.Narraindoo
M.B.B.S
Dr Sirini Singh
MBChB
Dr Kasthurba Maharaj MBCHB FCPSA
Claire van Staden
Registered ICU trained Nurse
Dr Farzana Sayed
MBBCh (Wits) DipEC DOH
Varsha Soni (ukzn) B Pharm
DR SAS Haffejee -MBBCH WITS
Dr Shamila Adam MB.ChB
Dr Yusuf Osman MbChB MPrax Med (Ntl) DOH (Wits)
Dr Yasmeen Thandar
PhD MMedSc BPharm (UKZN)
Dr S Dlamuka, MBchB(UKZN), HIV man.dip
Dr feroza Khan – Gp
Dr Asiya Desai
MBChB
Dr Tasneem Latiff
MBBCH (WITS)
Dr Retha Luyt – MBChB
Dr Siboniso Dlamuka, MBchB(UKZN), HIV man.dip
Dr GLA Hlongwa MBChB, (natal)
Major Pathmaseelan Runga Rasen B-Tech Occ Health Nursing.
Dr HM Dhooma
BSc MBChB DOH
Dr G Cakwebe
BSc MBChB DA(SA)
Dr Sharisha Surajballi
MBCHB; FC OPHTH(SA); MMed(Ukzn)
Dr AA Moosa Mbchb FCFP Family Physician
Dr N. C. Majali, MBCHB, MBA UKZN
Dr MJ Gause Bsc MBChB