Pofma possible for those who spread Covid-19 falsehoods: Ong

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is looking into the possibility of using Singapore's fake news law against people who spread falsehoods about Covid-19 treatment.

This includes those who claim that anti-parasitic drug ivermectin is a safe and effective treatment for the disease, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung yesterday.

"We are certainly looking into it," said Mr Ong, when asked why the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (Pofma) has not been used against websites encouraging people to take ivermectin.

"And just to be clear, in MOH, the medical professionals are very clear that ivermectin is not suitable for the treatment of Covid," he added.

"Whatever has been used in the lab to kill the Covid virus is at a dosage that's too high for humans to use safely."

Ivermectin is a prescription-only drug that is used to treat parasitic worm infections. While it has been studied as a potential treatment for Covid-19, there is no strong scientific evidence that it works.

Even pharmaceutical company Merck, which manufactures ivermectin, has said there is insufficient evidence that the drug can treat Covid-19 and that most studies show "a concerning lack of safety data".

Side effects of ivermectin include vomiting, stomach pain, seizures, severe skin rashes and liver injury.

Earlier this month, a 65-year-old retiree was hospitalised with fever and joint inflammation after she took four 3mg tablets of ivermectin over two days.

But certain websites and chatgroups have pushed for self-medication with ivermectin as a way to prevent Covid-19 infection or treat its symptoms.

Last Friday, MOH put up a Facebook post warning against a website known as Truth Warriors, which is run by a group of anonymous individuals and claims to be presenting "the other side of the Covid picture". The site has put up articles claiming that ivermectin is safe and effective for Covid-19 treatment.

"Self-medicating with ivermectin can be dangerous to one's health, and there have been reports of patients requiring hospitalisation after doing so," MOH said in its post, urging the public to avoid spreading misinformation.

On Tuesday, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said it had foiled five attempts to illegally import 23,100 ivermectin tablets between Sept 10 and Oct 6.