Medicine plates - GILE MICHEL / SIPA

The Bolivian Ministry of Health authorized on Wednesday the use of ivermectin, a parasiticide often used in veterinary medicine, to treat Covid-19. A circular allowing the "import and use at different doses" of this product has been published, announced the Minister of Health Marcelo Navajas, before specifying that the drug "has not been scientifically validated for the treatment of coronavirus ".

El ministro de Salud, Marcelo Navajas, explained that the ivermectina of 3 and 6 mg is part of the lista de medicamento esenciales del país. Aclara que no hay evidencia científica de su uso en COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/zqtQAg2gDv

- RTP Bolivia (@rtp_bolivia) May 13, 2020

For this reason, it should only be administered under the responsibility of a doctor and provided that the patient is informed that the effectiveness of the molecule is not proven for Covid-19, he also stressed. . Bolivian doctors, practicing mainly in the regions of Santa Cruz (east) and Beni (northeast), recently revealed that they prescribed ivermectin to people infected with the new coronavirus.

The price of this treatment has increased fivefold

After these announcements, the antiparasitic - which comes in the form of tablets - began to be asked in pharmacies and on the black market where its price increased fivefold, from 10 to 50 bolivianos (1.3 to 6.7 euros ). "This drug is very easy to take, is very inexpensive, it can be used all over the country, and it eliminates (the coronavirus) from the body in five days," said doctor Erland Vaca Diez on Monday. while admitting that its effectiveness could not be established at 100%.

Ivermectin "is a parasiticide of privileged use in veterinary medicine but which has also been used in certain types of human parasitosis", specified the national director of epidemiology, Virgilio Prieto. The molecule is especially prescribed against scabies.

"We will wait for clinical trials," warned the president of the College of Physicians of La Paz, Luis Larrea, also warning against self-medication. Bolivia, whose population has been confined since March 17, has recorded 2,964 cases of new coronavirus and 128 deaths.

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