APAS taken to task for all-male committee
I would like to know how an all-male committee reviewing the Growing Forward programs for the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan was thought to represent Saskatchewan farm families, and how it was chosen.
The opportunity to address future policy is a vital component for our industry, and even more so with the issues on the global plate today.
Women are an important aspect to the farm. It is an oversight that women were left off of this committee. I believe this needs to be corrected.
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Agriculture needs to prepare for government spending cuts
As government makes necessary cuts to spending, what can be reduced or restructured in the budgets for agriculture?
Vicki Dutton,
Paynton, Sask.
Ivermectin not proven to work on COVID
Re: Letter to the editor, “Ivermectin — We Don’t Agree,” by Bev Hallett, page 12, Oct. 7.
I found the cartoon your paper featured on page 10 of the Sept. 2 issue regarding the use of ivermectin funny, but in an exasperating sort of way. It is frustrating to see so many people eager to use what I would characterize as a modern day “snake oil” while refusing proven remedies.
As a pharmacist, I regularly read medical studies and it is never a straightforward matter to assess if a study has been well done or is valid.
At present, there is no study showing benefit for COVID treatment with ivermectin that has not been invalidated due to serious design errors or deliberate fraud.
The use of ivermectin in developing countries likely arose because no vaccines were immediately available. Physicians and patients were desperate to try anything at all. Many of these developing countries are no longer recommending ivermectin use due to a demonstrated lack of benefit.
Even Merck, a manufacturer of ivermectin, states that there is “no scientific basis for a potential therapeutic effect against COVID-19.”
There is an excellent article published by the BBC, “Ivermectin: How false science created a COVID ‘miracle’ drug,” which I would encourage people to read. It is very well researched. It illustrates the types of deficiencies seen in the studies recommending ivermectin for use in treating COVID-19.
Ivermectin has not been “arbitrarily banned” in Canada. It has simply never been approved for use for COVID. In the absence of adequately powered, well-designed and well-conducted clinical trials supporting its use, this is as it should be.
Terry Lynn Skarberg,
Sexsmith, Alta.
