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Dr. Janet Diaz, head of Clinical Care at the WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) is maintaining its stance that the risks of using the drug Ivermectin to treat COVID-19 outweigh any perceived benefit.
After months of lobbying by doctors, Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton, recently signed an import permit to allow stocks of the anti-parasitic drug into Jamaica.
The Ministry of Health has not recommended it and the drug is not being offered in the public system, but Dr. Tufton said doctors and patients can decide how they choose to use it.
During a question and answer session on Tuesday, Dr. Janet Diaz, head of Clinical Care at the WHO, said the international body was still not recommending the drug.
"Generate evidence, do the clinical trials and we will look at it quickly and write recommendations but don't use drugs or medicines that have no proven benefit 'cause they may cause more harm and that's what we want to avoid," she urged.
Dr. Diaz said a systematic review team is constantly monitoring the research so once "more data come in then [WHO] may adjust the recommendation."