Hello and welcome to more or less on the BBC World Service with me Tim Haferd. Every week we

interrogate the numbers in the news and in life whether they apply to economics, climate change,

politics or more than ever, health. The last year and a half have been full of bewildering

and often terrifying numbers when it comes to health. Covid death figures, transmissibility rates,

hospitalisations, we've been bombarded with some brutal statistics. It's perhaps then not

surprising that when some positive looking numbers emerge, many people seize upon them as a sign of

hope. And in certain corners of the internet that hope has blossomed into the belief that a

common drug, I've amectin, has the potential to be a near miraculous treatment for Covid-19

patients. It has a number of passionate proponents ranging from a few scientists to board

line conspiracy theorists, some of whom claim I've amectin is being suppressed by the global

and scientific establishment. It was even the topic of an emergency episode by the podcasting

superstar Joe Rogan. So this is the first, I've never had to do an emergency podcast before.

As we were working through the various emerging evidence and figuring out what we believed in what

we didn't and why we ran into Ivermectin and there was this indication that it was effective

against Covid and we didn't know what to make of it, we didn't know whether...

Ivermectin is a cheap, off-patent, anti-paracistic drug and there have been some eye catching

claims made about it. For example, that it can reduce the risk of death in Covid-19 patients

by 62%. It is true that Ivermectin showed some promise in lab bench experiments early in the

pandemic but as any health scientist will tell you, theoretical promise in a petry dish is no

guarantee of success in treating humans. It's also worth remembering that this isn't the first time

we've seen loud claims of a breakthrough treatment. And a lot of good things have come out about

the hydroxy. A lot of good things have come out. I happen to be taking it. I happen to be taking it.

...