(Last Updated on January 26, 2021 by GERALD NCUBE)
HARARE – The College of Primary Care Physicians of Zimbabwe (CPCPZ) has approached the Ministry of Health and Child Care seeking permission to use Ivermectin (a veterinary drug) and Nano silver in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
In a letter addressed to the Health Ministry, the doctors said since the adoption of the use of these drugs in August 2020, patients who have used these medications have been showing better recovery signs.
“Since August 2020 we have adopted the use of both Ivermectin and nanosilver solution and have found this combination to be a game-changer in terms of the management of our patients. (A few South African colleagues who were desperate also used the two in combination and can relate anecdotes of clearing an old age home hospital full of patients in a week. They too were struck by the effectiveness and have actually put this protocol called the SID protocol on the Ivermectin Africa website.)
“For the past 5 months, we have used Ivermectin and nanosilver, either separately or together alongside the standard of care for our COVID patients. After the first wave when numbers were low it was less obvious just how successful this regimen can be but when the second wave hit in mid-December we found that using this protocol was extremely effective.
“We use far less oxygen, far fewer patients progress and in fact, some practitioners estimate that they have less than 1, 5% mortality using this combination. We believe that the Zimbabwean case fatality rate would be significantly higher over the last month if we had not been able to use it. We also subjectively believe that it is as useful in prophylaxis as our South American counterparts have found,” said CPCPZ in their letter.
In the letter, CPCPZ also says they have not observed any significant side effects besides the already known and listed mild symptoms of Ivermectin while for Nano silver they have seen occasional dizziness and a reactive cough in a minority of patients.
Zimbabwe is currently battling the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and government recently announced that plans are in motion to acquire the approved vaccines.