Ivermectin imports have increased fivefold since Covid-19 was diagnosed in the Dominican Republic, reports El Caribe. The inexpensive, over-the-counter medicine, has been used for decades to treat livestock, pets and people infested with parasitic worms. The drug won the Nobel Prize in 2015 and is not subject to a pharmaceutical patent. Last year, local physicians began prescribing it after they found it helped save lives.
Most of the drug comes from Costa Rica and El Salvador, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, Ecuador, Spain, China, Brazil, United States and Canada.
The drug is also used extensively in El Salvador to treat Covid-19. It is not an approved treatment in Costa Rica. The number of Covid-19 deaths to 1 million persons in Costa Rica is 472 as of 15 January 2021, compared to 223 in the Dominican Republic and 229 in El Salvador.
According to the Customs Agency statistics, in 2019 the Dominican Republic imported 127,413 units of the drug or US$430,410 dollars. In 2020, imports of the pharmaceutical rose to 647,461 or US$1,006,118. About half of the total was imported from Costa Rica and El Salvador.
The use of Ivermectin has been surrounded by controversy. Local authorities are concerned people will self-medicate and get to the doctor too late. The drug is not an authorized treatment in the Dominican Republic yet is prescribed by many physicians. The Dominican health authorities have approved expensive meds such as Remdesivir and Tocilizumab. Several analysts say the conflict of interests has impeded the official widespread authorization.
On 15 January, the National Institute of Health of the United States upgraded its recommendation and now accepts the use of the drug as an option for Covid-19 treatment.
17 January 2021