Since mid-October, attention has been focused on the tender launched by the Ministry of Health for the procurement of the immunomodulator, Tocilizumab. These are monoclonal antibodies used in the treatment of Covid 19 patients and have no contraindications for vaccinated people. The opposition leader deplores the delay in ordering the drugs, which coincides with the stockout of Tocilizumab. Dawood Oaris said that the prescription of an immunomodulator is a case-by-case basis. The debate should be scientific, not political.
XLD’s concern
With his discovery that 50 % of the Covid victims were vaccinated of Sinopharm, Xavier Luc Duval is concerned for the 550,000 Mauritians who he considers to be at risk as they have been inoculated with “Sinopharm, a bad vaccine“. During his press conference after his Private Notice Question addressed to the Minister of Health, Dr. Kailesh Jagutpal in Parliament on Tuesday 26th October, he mentioned that “Tocilizumab, which guarantees a 28% cure, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 21st June and by the World Health Organisation (WHO) since 5th July. It is now that the Ministry finds it worthwhile to place the order when it is known that the drug is out of stock. It will be the same scenario as with the vaccines due to this delay in action,” said the leader of the Mauritian Social Democratic Party, denouncing “the incompetence of this government”.
The prescription of an immunomodulator is case by case
Tocilizumab is indeed effective, as stated by the WHO on 5 July: “Immunosuppressive and/or immunomodulatory drugs that block interleukin-6, a type of monoclonal antibody, are life-saving for patients with severe COVID-19, especially when given in combination with corticosteroids…These are the first drugs to be effective against COVID-19 as of September 2020”. However, as Dr Dawood Oaris, the President of the Association of Private Clinics in Mauritius, says: “At no time can the same immunomodulator be given to everyone. The patient with a severe form of Covid must be seriously observed and tested by his doctor before being put on an immunosuppressant like Tocilizumab. Just because the Ministry of Health has put this drug out to tender does not mean that it should be considered the saviour of this virus. At the moment, it is cortisone that is most commonly used when lung disorders take a severe form. Each case is different and each existing comorbidity or condition requires a particular drug. If Tocilizumab is out of stock, the government can get Remdesivir which is equally approved by the FDA and WHO and approved generics are manufactured in India. There is no need for a political debate around Tocilizumab but a scientific debate.”
