KUALA LUMPUR: Covid-19 patients who took Ivermectin were more likely to get diarrhoea, says Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali.

       The Deputy Health Minister I said the ministry's clinical trials concluded that other than giving patients an upset stomach, there were no significant differences between those given Ivermectin and those treated using Covid-19 standard care treatment.

       "The clinical trials were carried out involving 500 patients at 20 hospitals and Covid-19 quarantine and treatment centres who were given the medication over a five-day period,” said Dr Noor Azmi.

       "Based on safety analysis, those taking Ivermectin had diarrhoea three times higher compared to those under standard care," he added when responding to a supplementary question raised by Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (BN-Baling) in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Nov 11).

       Dr Noor Azmi informed the House that Malaysia's findings on the effectiveness of Ivermectin in preventing serious Covid-19 cases following recent clinical trials would be published in medical peer-reviewed journals.

       He added that following the findings, the use of Ivermectin would only be allowed under supervised clinical trials here.

       He also said a second clinical trial to determine the efficacy of Ivermectin for close contacts of Covid-19 patients will be carried out next month.

       "We will be carrying out a second clinical trial on Ivermectin involving close contacts next month once approval is given,” said Dr Noor Azmi.

       "It will be administered to close contacts of Covid-19 patients to determine if they will get infected," he added.

       Abdul Azeez wanted to know the status of the use of Ivermectin as there are reports that it could help prevent infection among close contacts of Covid-19 patients.

       Meanwhile, Dr Noor Azmi informed the House that the Health Ministry has agreed to purchase the world's first Covid-19 antiviral pill for use in Malaysia.

       "The government, through the Health Ministry has agreed to purchase 150,000 treatment packages of Molnupiravir (Covid-19 antiviral pill). This is preparation for its use here once approval is given by National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA)," he added.

       He said the oral medication has shown to reduce hospitalisation of Covid-19 patients by 50%.

       On Nov 4, Britain became the first country in the world to approve the use of the antiviral Covid-19 pill developed by US-based Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

       Earlier, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun was forced to cool things down in the House when several MPs interrupted Dr Noor Azmi.

       Among them was Sivarasa Rasiah (PH-Sungai Buloh) who asked if private practitioners would be allowed to prescribe off-label use of Ivermectin for patients as recent findings showed no difference compared to the use of other standard treatments.

       Several Opposition MPs were heard asking Dr Noor Azmi to stop lecturing the House on the efforts of the government on finding the best treatment for Covid-19 patients here.

       “Please sit down! This is not a debate,” Azhar shouted as he proceeded to allow Dr Azmi to continue with his answer.