Govt approves anti-parasitic COVID-19 drug
BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA/RICHARD MUPONDE
GOVERNMENT has approved mass importation of the veterinary anti-parasitic drug, Ivermectin, as it battles the second wave of COVID-19 infections which have rattled President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration after killing five government ministers.
Robert Mudyiradima, the acting Health secretary wrote to the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) acting director-general Robert Rukwata directing that the drug be approved for use in the treatment of COVID-19 and that it could not “deny them (COVID-19 sufferers) effective treatment
regimes”.
“It is in this regard that authority is granted for you to proceed under section 75 of the Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act to allow importation and use of these medicines under the supervision and guidance you outlined,” Mudyiradima wrote on January 26.
Friday, January 29, 2021
One of the few things that hasn’t changed significantly since our last TCPA update is, well, the TCPA. We have a new year, a new President and multiple new COVID vaccines. And after the December oral argument in
Facebook v. Duguid before the Supreme Court, 2021 could be the year when we receive clarity on the critical TCPA question of what constitutes an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”). Indeed, the argument seemed positive for the TCPA defense bar, with Justices Alito and Thomas chafing at the anachronistic nature of the statute and Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch expressing concerns about the idea that every cellphone user could be subject to civil liability. But for now, the TCPA litigation landscape remains the same bizarre, often inconsistent quagmire that it always has been. We’ll continue to be your guide through the morass, and we summarize here developments since our last update, listed by issue category in a
27 January 2021 - 14:14 By Lenin Ndebele The College of Primary Care Physicians of Zimbabwe said Ivermectin has shown positive results in the treatment of Covid-19 patients. Stock photo. Image: 123rf/Jarun Ontakrai
Doctors in Zimbabwe have formally appealed to the government for permission to use Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 patients, asserting the drug is part of a combination that has proved to be “a game-changer” on the ground.
The College of Primary Care Physicians of Zimbabwe (CPCPZ) said Ivermectin, used to treat many types of parasite infestations in animals, and Nanosilver, used for antibacterial and antifungal purposes in water treatment, have shown positive results in the past five months.