OPINION

Ivermectin answer

Re: "A pill overlooked", (PostBag, May 9).

Ivermectin is a cheap generic drug. I would like to take this opportunity to point out that the bulk price of Ivermectin is US$168 (5,236 baht) per kilogramme and it is made in huge quantities in both India and China. A 6 milligram pill in China costs about one cent in US currency at retail and is available throughout the country and online.

Ivermectin -- medication used to treat many types of parasite infestations -- appears in many studies to prevent deaths and reduce the effects of Covid-19. In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised that Ivermectin was used to treat Covid-19 in clinical trials.

So if the Thai government were interested in treating Covid patients they could obtain the necessary amount of Ivermectin and make it available throughout the country at a very low price. Not only a proven effective treatment but also an effective prophylactic which protects against the Covid virus with very few side effects.

To ignore PFM's suggestion is to side with Big Pharma profits.

Virus infects all

Re: "Thais, not expats, get jab priority", (BP, May 5).

I am surprised the Bangkok Post gave a front-page showcase to the Health Ministry's xenophobic bulletin. The statement you reported was a thinly veiled promise of racial discrimination in delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine. Wasn't there more edifying news to report?

According to the ministry's spokesperson, resident expats -- including those in the most vulnerable groups -- will be denied access to immunisation. That's at least until a vague point in the distant future when they "could have a chance of getting it".

Hardly reassuring, but should we be surprised? After all, the boss of this government department last year defied medical science with his fanciful diatribe about "dirty" foreigners who "don't shower" but run around the kingdom spreading disease.

Presumably the unwashed, undeserving outsiders include people like me. I've worked here for almost 17 years, willingly paying up to a third of my income in tax. I've helped build up a number of businesses, creating employment for Thai people whom I regard only with affection and respect.

For what it's worth, most days I've remembered to shower, sometimes even two or three times. Yet, when help is needed, I'm not to be given the same protection as people who were born here. What does this achieve, apart from feeding cheap prejudice?

Nothing. The deadly irony of the ministry's stance is that it makes no contribution to the battle against the pandemic -- just the opposite. The virus spreads without regard for race or national boundaries. No one is safe until everyone is safe. All around the world, people are recognizing this simple reality. When will it penetrate the Thai Ministry of Public Health?

Jerusalem silence

Re: "Scores more wounded in new Jerusalem clashes", (BP, May 10).

Most of the media including the Bangkok Post seems to be ignoring this problem. So I think it's essential to bring some attention to it. I believe East Jerusalem may be on the verge of a massacre. In Eastern Jerusalem Palestinians who have lived there for decades are being evicted from their homes so that Jewish settlers can move into them. Unarmed Palestinians who are protesting this outrage are being shot with rubber bullets and many of them have been hospitalised with face and eye injuries. We, the Jews of the world, can remain silent no longer!