Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta (Sagip party-list) and Rep. Michael Defensor (Anakalusugan party-list) said Tuesday that they will be distributing the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to the public, despite warnings from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Department of Health (DOH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and various medical societies that there is insufficient evidence supporting the use of ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19.
Starting Thursday, their initiative — dubbed “Ivermectin Pan-three”— would see beneficiaries from the “poorest of the poor” get at least three tablets of the drug, which is only registered for human use in the form of a topical cream.
According to the two lawmakers, they will be assisted by doctors, particularly medical professionals from the Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines, which has been urging the use of ivermectin against COVID-19 despite scant data on it.
Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo said that as long as doctors are present to monitor patients and prescribe the drug, the planned distribution of ivermectin is legal.
