An opportunity for evaluating ivermectin in Brazil, as some regions/municipalities adopt it, and others (like this one) don't.

BUT (at the bottom) the mayor says they will use the drugs. ???

#Health Secretary said there is no evidence of effectiveness, but doctors will be able to prescribe with patient authorization

Mato Grosso do Sul will not adopt the protocol for drug use for suspected and confirmed patients of Covid-19, called early treatment of the new coronavirus. This Saturday (4), State Secretary of Health, Geraldo Resende, stated, however, that doctors can prescribe the medication, including hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, if they think it is important, being the responsibility of each one.

“We are not going to make any protocol in the State, even because there is no scientific evidence. I am guided by science, the government will be guided by science, but if the citizen wants to use this or that medicine, the medicines that are coming from the Ministry of Health are available and other medicines that are spoken every now and then , one or the other that the staff understands that it can be the miracle pill in the fight against Covid, the doctor will prescribe, if he understands to be important in the fight against covid and the responsibility remains with the attending physician”, he said.

The Secretary had previously criticized the protocol, which was adopted by the Municipality of Campo Grande, previously , stating that there is no scientific evidence that these drugs have any effectiveness in the prevention or treatment of covid-19. This Saturday, he reaffirmed his speech.

“There is no drug in the world to combat covid. There are several surveys made available to the population, but without any proof, without any scientific evidence that says that this or that medicine will cure covid. The only medicine to cure covid today is social isolation, which will slow the progress of the disease in Brazil and Mato Grosso do Sul, ”said Resende.

Secretary also stated that there is a lot of politicization about Covid's medicines and treatments in Brazil and the State's interest is to stay away from this politicization, with strategies with the municipalities focused on saving lives.

#TOWN HALL

According to the city hall protocol, ivermectin should be used before the presentation of symptoms of the new coronavirus, even without a positive result for the disease, while hydroxychloroquine would be administered to people who were in the first hours of symptoms, also without the need for confirmation. Covid-19.

Ivermectin works with infected patients, even those in the ICU and on ventilators, per the ICON study.

This Saturday, Mayor Marcos Trad also said that there are no studies that indicate that the drugs are indicated for Covid, but that he decided on the protocol for doctors and patients to decide whether or not they want to use them.

“We are going to use it in our city. There are people saying that there is still no scientific proof, I also know that there is no proof that it can be effective enough as these doctors are saying, but also no proof that the mask prevents the virus, but we are using it because it has a unanimous 70% that it prevents. The kit is necessary yes and, from the moment we make it available, it will be at the discretion of the health professional to prescribe or not, it will be at the discretion of the patient to want to use it or not ”, he said.

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In Brazil, the federal government, states and municipalities are all individual constitutional units. The smallest state sponsored clinics usually fall under the Municipal scope, so they should be handling most of the cases, specially the moderate cases. States and the federal government usually administer bigger hospitals, usually through state sponsored universities.

State protocols could affect drug availability, but as far as I know, the only drug that has had shortages was Hydroxychloroquine and it seems that physicians are still being able to provide chloroquine when that happens.

There are also private hospitals operating on public funding that might not necessarily be following any state guidelines and completely private groups, like Prevent Sênior and Unimed, that have their own protocols and guidelines.

I don't think comparing regions death and recovery statistics will yield good data unless you have some other data like treatments with a specific drug prescribed in that region. Comparing municipalities might be a good idea though, but this requires knowing what is the dominant health care provider in each municipality.

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