25 Jul 2021

Parliament has rejected a motion seeking to request the President, Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, to invoke his executive powers to issue a directive for the inclusion of Ivermectin in the national COVID-19 prevention and treatment guidelines. 

Presenting the motion on Friday, Sefhare-Ramokgonami MP, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang, said Ivermectin had been found to reduce burden of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. 

Dr Gobotswang also argued that the medicine was said to have reduced the number of people progressing to critical disease and death due to COVID-19 related complications. 

Contributing to the debate, Boteti West MP and Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said he was against the motion because it would be risky and irresponsible for government to roll out a drug that had not yet passed all clinical tests. 

Mr Tsogwane said government would, however, continue prioritising Batswana’s health by only rolling out vaccines certified by world standards and having gone through required clinical trials to prove their effectiveness and efficacy. 

He pleaded with politicians to refrain from misleading the nation with the aim of gaining political mileage through advocating for the usage of medicines that could have devastating side effects. 

He said it was also misleading to say Parliament had previously passed a motion asking the former president to issue a directive on the use of unregistered drugs to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

 Assistant Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe, also dismissed the motion saying the ministry had no authority to ask the President to issue a directive for the inclusion of any medical prescription to a patient. 

He said Ivermectin was a broad spectrum anti-parasitic agent with no recent approval of effectiveness in fighting a virus, thus it had not be scientifically proven to be antivirus. He cautioned the public against the use Ivermectin, saying it was not registered in Botswana. 

“The ministry is guided by the Botswana National Drug Policy, which provides for a framework for the incorporation of the objective of the pharmaceutical sector into the national health service structure and operation in order to ensure quality service and system efficiency,” he said.

Good Hope-Mabule MP, Mr Eric Molale, also dismissed the motion saying the mover should have rather tabled a private members’ bill calling for the amendment of the BOMRA Act rather than seeking to request President Masisi to invoke his executive powers to issue a directive for the inclusion of Ivermectin in the national COVID-19 prevention and treatment guidelines. 

He said the use of medicines was premised on scientific evidence under the regulation of BOMRA, therefore it would be inappropriate for Parliament to intervene on such. 

Meanwhile, Jwaneng-Mabutsane MP, Mr Mephato Reatile supported the motion on grounds that there was growing body of literature from reputable groups of researchers around the world showing a degree of benefit with the use of Ivermectin in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. 

He said the drug had been used in humans for over four decades, with over four billion prescriptions as at June 28 this year and had at a minimum, been used at various doses in approximately 19 000 humans for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 without any serious adverse effects reported. Meanwhile, 35 legislators rejected the motion while 14 supported it. ends