Regular use of the oral antiparasitic drug ivermectin may significantly reduce the risk of contracting Covid-19, according to a review of available data by researchers who claim the medicine can help end the pandemic.

Led by the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a group of medical and scientific experts reviewed published peer-reviewed studies, manuscripts, expert meta-analyses, and epidemiological analyses of regions with ivermectin distribution efforts all showing that ivermectin is effective prophylaxis and treatment for COVID-19.

"We did the work that the medical authorities failed to do, we conducted the most comprehensive review of the available data on ivermectin," said Pierre Kory, MD, president and chief medical officer of the FLCCC.

"We applied the gold standard to qualify the data reviewed before concluding that ivermectin can end this pandemic."

Peer reviewed by medical experts that included three US government senior scientists and published in the American Journal of Therapeutics, the research is the most comprehensive review of the available data taken from clinical, in vitro, animal, and real-world studies.

Goa government on Monday cleared a new Covid-19 treatment protocol which recommends all residents above the age of 18 to take five tablets of the ivermectin drug, in order to prevent the steep and sometimes fatal viral fever, which accompanies a Covid-19 infection.

“Patients will be treated with ivermectin 12mg for a period of five days. Expert panels from the UK, Italy, Spain and Japan, found a large, statistically significant reduction in mortality, time to recovery and viral clearance in Covid-19 patients treated with ivermectin," the Health Minister also said, after a meeting with top health officials and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.