The Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) said its member hospitals are not using the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 patients.
Its president, Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh, said private hospitals had been treating Covid-19 patients since January using protocols approved by the Health Ministry and international medical societies.
He said Ivermectin was not on any of those protocols.
“APHM has consulted most of its 152 members and none of them is using the parasitic medication Ivermectin for Covid-19 patients.
“The Health Ministry said some of its hospitals are conducting clinical trials on Ivermectin, but none of the private hospitals is participating in the trial.
“Private hospitals may only use this medication after approval with detailed guidelines from the government.
“However, there has been no indication on this as yet,” he said yesterday.
Dr Kuljit said the Health Ministry had announced that Ivermectin would be prescribed as an “off-label” treatment for Covid-19, but that the parasitic medication was to be administered in a monitored environment.
He said private hospitals would be very cautious about using any medication under study without any evidence of its effectiveness.
He said APHM had ensured that none of its members had prescribed Ivermectin to Covid-19 patients.
He said APHM refuted fake news on social media that some private hospitals had had some success using this medication, which was not approved by the World Health Organisation or the United States’ Food and Drug Administration.
He said private hospitals were managing Covid-19 patients based on their capacity, as well as providing staff to vaccination centres.
Dr Kuljit said private hospitals had begun managing patients transferred from government hospitals.
He said 44 private hospitals in the Greater Klang Valley had provided 951 beds for patients from government hospitals and that capacity had yet to be reached. –Bernama
Source: New Straits Times
