Indonesians have stocked up on ivermectin, which is touted as a treatment for COVID-19, as a virus surge sweeps the country.
Pharmacies across the country are running out of ivermectin, an oral treatment normally used to treat lice and other parasitic infections, thanks in part to viral social media posts touting its potential as a treatment.
“Those who come bring a screenshot showing that ivermectin ... could cure COVID,” said Yoyon, head of a pharmaceutical sales group at a market in the capital, Jakarta, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
Photo: Reuters
The shortage had pushed the price of the drug up to about 300,000 rupiah (US$21) a bottle from 175,000 rupiah.
“We are out of supplies at the moment after many people came to buy it,” Yoyon said.
Enthusiastic praise from online personalities are helping drive demand.
Photo: Reuters
“Ivermectin is one of the safe and effective keys to ending the pandemic from various doctors, with lots of scientific evidence,” Reza Gunawan, a self-described “holistic health professional,” wrote on Twitter.
Iman Sjafei, the cofounder of media outlet Asumsi, wrote on Twitter that five of his acquaintances had recovered from COVID-19 after taking the drug.
“Maybe placebo. Maybe, but it might be true too,” Sjafei wrote.
Sylvie Bernadi, who lives on Jakarta’s outskirts, said she purchased ivermectin for infected relatives after seeing WhatsApp messages and social media posts promoting the drug.
“Many people are saying that it can cure COVID-19, so I bought it,” the 66-year-old said, but added that some had raised concerns about unspecified side effects.
There has been a surge in demand for the drug from Brazil to South Africa to Lebanon.
Manufacturer Merck has said that there is “no scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against COVID-19” and warned of possible safety issues if the drug is administered inappropriately.
Scientists, the WHO and several drug regulators — including Indonesia’s own — have said that there is a lack of evidence to show that it works against the virus.
That has not stopped Indonesian Minister of State Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir from praising ivermectin and urging domestic production to fight the virus.
A former owner of Italian soccer champions Inter and a shareholder of the National Basketball Association’s Philadelphia 76ers, Thohir said that state-owned drug giant Indofarma should produce up to 4 million ivermectin tablets a month.
He said that more testing is required to ascertain its effectiveness against COVID-19 and urged users to get a prescription before taking the tablets.
“I’m not a doctor, but in the midst of desperation and difficulty, I think anything is worth a try,” former Indonesian minister of fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti wrote on Twitter.
Facebook posts and articles touting the drug’s effectiveness have proliferated in several countries.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has pressured regulators to approve the the drug as a treatment.
“There are a lot of credible people ... who swear by their fathers’ grave that ivermectin is doing good to their bodies while they are suffering from COVID,” Duterte recently told the head of the country’s drug regulator.
After demand for the drug surged in Latin America, the WHO in March said that any use of the drug as a treatment should be limited to clinical trials.
Following reports of people being hospitalized after ingesting a version of the drug meant for horses, the US Food and Drug Administration has warned of the risks of taking ivermectin.
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