New Delhi, May 11: A day after the Goa government recommended the use of ivermectin for treatment of above 18 COVID-19 patients, World Health Organisation's (WHO) Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan warned against the general use of the drug. "Safety and efficacy are important when using any drug for a new indication. WHO recommends against use of 'ivermectin' for COVID-19 except within clinical trials," Dr Soumya Swaminathan tweeted this morning. WHO Chief Scientist Says India's COVID-19 Figures Worrying, Calls for Exercises to Report Actual Numbers.

The WHO Chief Scientist also attached a statement issued by German healthcare and life sciences giant Merck on ivermectin, which said: "...to-date, our analysis has identified: No scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against COVID-19 from pre-clinical studies; No meaningful evidence for clinical activity or efficacy in patients with COVID-19 disease, and; A concerning lack of safety data in the majority of studies."

WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan's Tweet:

The Goa government on Monday approved the use of ivermectin as preventive treatment for all adults against COVID-19 infection. In a series of tweets, Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said the state's approval for the use of ivermectin was based on conclusions by expert panels from the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Japan.

"Patients will be treated with Ivermectin 12mg for a period of 5 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 (sic)," Rane said in a tweet. " However, this does not prevent COVID-19 infection but helps in reducing the severity of the disease..." he cautioned.

While the WHO recommends against the use of ivermectin, a peer-reviewed research recently claimed that the drug can end COVID-19 pandemic. Led by the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a group of medical and scientific experts reviewed published peer-reviewed studies, manuscripts, expert meta-analyses, and epidemiological analyses of regions with ivermectin distribution efforts all showing that ivermectin is an effective prophylaxis and treatment for COVID-19.

"Our latest research shows, once again, that when the totality of the evidence is examined, there is no doubt that ivermectin is highly effective as a safe prophylaxis and treatment for COVID-19," said Paul E. Marik, founding member of the FLCCC and Chief, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 11, 2021 01:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).