COVID-19 in Africa: It's not just undercounting - it's pre-medicating

 

A recent article in Quartz online magazine suggested that the reason so few reports of COVID-19 cases, fatalities, etc. were coming out of Africa is that they're being under-counted and/or under-reported.  The inefficiency of the health care system in that continent and the various and sundry bureaucracies involved are blamed for the lack of information.  The proposed "solution" is, of course, to test a great many more people . . . for which funds will be needed . . . and so other countries, NGO's, etc. will be asked to raise money for the purpose.

Same old, same old.  Just throw more aid at Africa and we can solve its problems!  Sadly, we can't.  It's been that way for not just decades, but generations.

However, when it comes to COVID-19, there are two factors of which most people in the First World are not aware.  I suggest they're a greater contributing factor to the seemingly lower proportion of COVID cases in Africa than most would credit.

Ivermectin was and is a "wonder drug" as far as Africa is concerned.  It was developed in the 1970's to treat parasite infestations, which kill and cripple untold thousands in Africa every year.  Wikipedia notes that "In humans, these include head lice, scabies, river blindness (onchocerciasis), strongyloidiasis, trichuriasis, ascariasis, and lymphatic filariasis. In veterinary medicine, the medication is used to prevent and treat heartworm and acariasis, among other indications."  Ivermectin is so successful at treating these illnesses (endemic in Africa) that its developers won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2015.  It's been included in the World Health Organization's Model List of Essential Medicines.  (That's a whole lot more than CNN's derisive dismissal of the drug as "horse dewormer", isn't it?)  Indeed, it's so effective and so popular that it's an over-the-counter medication in large parts of the continent - no prescription needed.  Tablets cost pennies apiece.

Hydroxychloroquine is also a "wonder drug" in Africa.  It was developed in the 1950's to prevent and/or treat malaria, a scourge that kills up to a million people every year.  It's also been found to treat "rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and porphyria cutanea tarda".  It, too, is on the Model List of Essential Medicines.  Hydroxy has become a standard, over-the-counter prophylactic medication in malaria-infested areas.  I took it for years in Africa when traveling through such regions, and it stood me in good stead.  (It's greatly preferred to older prophylactics such as atabrine, which is less effective and has nasty side-effects, including turning your skin yellow.)  It's also very low-cost, and freely available.

We know that both Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine are effective against COVID-19, despite all the pharmaceutical industry's propaganda against them.  Why would the industry campaign against their use?  Very simple:  because they're both off-patent, freely available, and very low-cost indeed - among the cheapest drugs available anywhere.  In India, which has relied on Ivermectin as a primary medication against COVID-19, I understand that a prophylactic treatment for a single person costs the government 24 cents.  Compare that to the cost of a single [demonstrably ineffective] vaccination, for which Pfizer, Moderna, etc. are reaping literally tens of billions of dollars.  Follow the money, and you'll find out why the industry doesn't want freely available, low-cost medications to threaten their vaccine income.

So, given that both Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine are commonly used in Africa to prevent and/or treat other diseases, I'm willing to bet that a large proportion of the alleged "undercounting" of COVID-19 cases in that continent are because potential victims are already taking medications that can potentially stop the disease before it starts.  In other words, COVID-19 can't get a foothold in their bodies.  I suspect that's a more important factor than most First World health experts are willing to admit.

I'm confident enough in that understanding that I'm using both drugs as prophylactics against the disease in my own family.  Given the catastrophically high reportage of side-effects in VAERS, I simply don't trust the vaccines, whereas - from long personal experience and/or observation - I do trust both Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine.  I'll stick with medications that I know work well, and that have demonstrated their effectiveness against COVID-19 on a national scale in more than one country, thank you very much.

It's difficult to get both drugs in human form in the USA, thanks to opposition to their use from the health care industry and vaccine-promoting bureaucrats.  If you can find a doctor who'll prescribe them, you still have the problem of finding a pharmacy that'll dispense them (some won't).  However, veterinary formulations of Ivermectin are still widely available (try farm supply stores, etc.), and work just as well in humans as they do in animals.  (I know.  I've used them myself.  So have many others.)

For treatment protocols for Hydroxychloroquine and other supplements, see here.  For the use of Ivermectin and other supplements, see here:  and for useful information on how to use veterinerary Ivermectin for humans, see here.  Take it from me, if you follow those recommendations, you'll be fine.  Ignore fear-mongering scare stories.  Just watch the dosage, and exercise normal care.

If you want human pharmaceuticals instead of those intended for animals, you'll have to go the prescription route, with all its attendant difficulties;  or you'll have to source the drugs from overseas.  However, that may be illegal under the laws in your jurisdiction.  I'm sure you understand that I can't encourage you to break the law.  If it's legal for you to proceed, do an online search for pharmacies in countries like India that will ship to you.  There are more than a few of them, and obviously I can't vouch for their reliability.  You'll have to do your own research.

Peter