A local group of health practitioners and researchers are asking policymakers to examine the accumulated body of scientific evidence demonstrating that Ivermectin is an effective prophylaxis and treatment for COVID-19.
According to the Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines (CDCPH), the most current global meta-study of Ivermectin shows its effectiveness in preventing hospitalizations and curbing deaths among those infected with COVID-19.
CDCPH is a non-profit, non-partisan organization composed of medical practitioners, business professionals, and civic-minded citizens advocating for science-based, cost-effective treatments to save lives and livelihoods during this pandemic.
According to CDCPH member Dr. Rafael Castillo, as of July 10, 2021, global meta-analyses of a total of 62 trials conducted by 585 scientists on 22,425 patients shows: An 85 percent improvement among patients in 14 trials using IVM as prophylaxis A 74 percent improvement in 26 early treatment trials A 46 percent improvement in 22 late treatment trials A 69 percent improvement in curbing mortality;
And a 62 percent improvement among patients with various stages of COVID-19 infections in 32 randomized controlled trials.
Meanwhile, another CDCPH member, Dr. Benigno Agbayani, Jr., explained that, “If we are serious in mustering all the tools to fight this pandemic, we should look at the scientific data. In science, two of the gold standards for evidence are peer-review and sample size.
Peer-review refers to a process where a study’s data, methods, and analysis, and are freely accessible to experts in the field for verification and criticism, while a large sample size shows that the process and treatments have been applied to a sufficiently wide segment of people.
The global meta-analyses on Ivermectin passes both standards because: first, the studies are all freely available for scrutiny at https://c19ivermectin.com; and second, because of the large samples sizes spanning a wide range of healthcare systems and patient characteristics from all over the world, Agbayani said.
Revisiting the Hippocratic Oath
According to CDCPH member Dr. Allan Landrito, “This pandemic is an opportune time for medical professionals 一 especially those now working as national health policy makers in government 一 to revisit two of the key tenets in the Hippocratic Oath, which everyone swears by as a prerequisite to joining the medical profession.”
These two tenets are that doctors are morally bound to prevent diseases, if possible, because prevention is better than cure; and to apply all measures required to nurse patients back to health, Landrito explained.
“The scientific evidence on Ivermectin as an effective prophylaxis and treatment for COVID-19 is in line with both principles, and so we must make it widely available to everyone… now.” Landrito concluded.