A frontline intensive care doctor explains why there are strong medical grounds to make ivermectin available for compassionate use.

"If ivermectin was 50% effective (compared with the published 83% improvement in survival rates reported in the meta-analysis by Dr Andrew Hill) it would have saved just more than 4,000 patients since December 21 2020. With a 75% reduction in mortality, we would have saved more than 6,000 lives (300 per day). 

In conclusion, the question then remains, what will it take for South Africa to give this cheap and effective drug a chance, and most importantly, what will it take to give the patients a fair shot and chance at survival? 

What would our justification be if ivermectin is eventually proven to be effective when the evidence has been around all along? Will the excuse for waiting for large multicentre RCTs be justifiable to the thousands of families who have lost their loved ones? 

It is obviously not a cost issue, it is also not a safety issue – it is only an academic evidence issue in Covid-19 specifically that is delaying a potential saving of frontline workers’ and patients’ lives."

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-01-15-potential-to-save-lives-an-intensive-care-doctor-argues-for-compassionate-use-of-ivermectin-for-covid-19/

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