Goa has become the first state in the country to endorse a new COVID-19 treatment protocol on Monday which prescribes five tablets of ivermectin drug for all residents above the age of 18 years to prevent high and sometimes fatal viral fever, which often accompanies COVID-19.
Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said that the ivermectin drug would be made available at all health centres across the state and urged all citizens to take the medicine irrespective of whether they have COVID-19 symptoms or otherwise.
Government of Goa to start Prophylaxis treatment for those above 18 years of age. Necessary instructions have been given for immediate implementation of the treatment.https://t.co/U09xjt9LZv
— VishwajitRane (@visrane) May 10, 2021
“We are giving this as a prophylaxis treatment, as a preventive. Ivermectin tablets will be given to all patients above 18 years at government health centres. The population needs to take it. This will be made available,” he said, while briefing the media.
Rane held a meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and top health officials in the state before making the formal announcement. “Patients will be treated with ivermectin 12mg for a period of five days. Expert panels from the UK, Italy, Spain and Japan, found a large, statistically significant reduction in mortality, time to recovery and viral clearance in COVID-19 patients treated with ivermectin.”
This move on Goa Government’s part comes after a globally feted research claimed that worldwide use of ivermectin can end COVID-19 pandemic, as it significantly reduces the risk of contracting the deadly infection. Published in the prestigious American Journal of Therapeutics, the research was peer reviewed by a team of experts including three US government senior scientists.