The Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) has consulted most of its 152 members, and none of them are currently using the parasitic medication ivermectin for their Covid-19 patients.
Private hospitals have been treating Covid-19 patients since January 2021 using treatment protocols which are approved with evidence-based guidelines by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and international medical societies. Ivermectin is not included as part of the protocols.
There was a recent announcement about prescribing Ivermectin as an ‘off label’ for Covid-19 by MOH, but to be administered in a monitored environment. Private hospitals are very cautious of using any medication which is still in the research stage, without any concrete evidence of its effectiveness.
APHM ensures the public that none of its members has prescribed ivermectin to their patients for the purpose of treating Covid-19 in any category. We refute some of the fake news on social media stating some private hospitals had some success using this medication, which is not approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) or the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The MOH has some hospitals conducting clinical trials on ivermectin, but none of the private hospitals are participating in the trial. Private hospitals may only use this medication after approval with detailed guidelines from the government. However, there has been no indication about this as yet.
Private hospitals are currently actively managing Covid-19 patients based on their capacities and capabilities, providing manpower to mega vaccination centres and stand-alone centres within hospitals, and also managing decanted patients from public hospitals.
Forty-four private hospitals in the Greater Klang Valley have provided 951 beds for decanted patients from public hospitals, and the process is still ongoing on a daily basis. The full capacity of decanting is yet to be exhausted.
Dr Kuljit Singh is president of the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM).
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