BPOM: Anti-Virus Drugs Are Hard Drugs, Must Have A Doctor's Prescription

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JAKARTA - Head of the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) Penny K. Lukito asked the public not to buy drugs carelessly as an effort to cure or treat COVID-19 patients.

"The use of anti-viral, anti-parasitic drugs, antibiotics which are strong drugs must be based on doctor's instructions that can be obtained from consultations," said Penny in a virtual press conference, Friday, July 2.

Penny emphasized that a number of drugs circulating and trusted by the public are hard drugs and there is no official permit to be used for COVID-19 patients.

Therefore, all efforts to cure the corona virus must be carried out through direct consultation with a doctor, or via telemedicine.

"People are advised to buy hard drugs, they must use a doctor's prescription. That is the BPOM appeal that we always remind the public," he said.

In recent times, many people have taken various kinds of drugs that are believed to be able to prevent or cure COVID-19. One of them is Ivermectin anthelmintic.

In fact, the person who pioneered the use of ivermectin for COVID-19 patients is the General Chair of the Indonesian Farmers' Association (HKTI) Moeldoko. The Presidential Chief of Staff admitted that his party had distributed Ivermectin to a number of areas.

According to him, Ivermectin is effective in treating COVID-19 patients, including those in Depok to East Semarang. Ivermectin, which is known as an anthelmintic, is said to be able to reduce COVID-19 cases in East Semarang, Sragen, and Kudus.

"In the City of Tangerang, East Jakarta, Depok, Bekasi, the efficacy level in almost all regions is approaching 100 percent for reducing COVID-19. Looking at this temporary data, we are quite optimistic that Ivermectin can be an effective drug solution to cure COVID-19 patients," said Moeldoko on Monday, June 28.

Moeldoko revealed the reason he distributed Ivermectin. According to him, this is due to the condition of the spread of COVID-19 which is currently increasingly widespread and continues to increase. Therefore, he dared to share Ivermectin as an alternative that has proven effective.