Tafadzwa Nyikadzino

The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has allowed the use of Ivermectin to treat Covid 19 patients for research purposes following global reports that the drug can reduce the viral load, amount of virus in the respiratory tract and the length of symptoms in people with mild coronavirus infections.

The drug is originally used to treat parasite infections in human and livestock. In a statement released on their twitter account yesterday, MCAZ said the data obtained from the use of the drug in the country will be critical in monitoring the safety and efficacy of ivermectin within the Zimbabwean population.

Similarly, the World Health organisation last month recommended the use of the drug to be restricted to clinical trials because of the inconclusive evidence of its effectiveness to treat Covid 19 patients.