Viagra sales in RP continue to go up

These are hard times, indeed.

Sales of Viagra, the elixir of males with erectile dysfunction, have continued to increase steadily despite the economic crunch.

This was disclosed yesterday by Kimmy Coseteng, corporate affairs manager of Pfizer Philippines, the pharmaceutical company that first discovered, developed and marketed Viagra to treat men suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED), the medical term for impotence.

"Our sales reports show that despite the economic crunch, more and more Filipino males suffering from erectile dysfunction have resorted to taking Viagra," Coseteng said adding that at least 10,000 Filipino men have bought the pill since it was introduced in the local market in October 1998.

Taken about an hour before sexual activity, Viagra is a tablet that works naturally with sexual stimulation and is effective in most men with erectile dysfunction associated with a broad range of physical and psychological medical conditions.

Viagra (slidenafil citrate) is the first in a new class of medications which improve blood flow to the penis. In clinical trials, it has been demonstrated to restore sexual function in most patients.

Erectile dysfunction is defined as the consistent inability to achieve and/or maintain an erection sufficient for satisfactory sexual activity. It is estimated that 100 million men worldwide suffer from it. The prevalence of erectile dysfunction increases with age.

Viagra was initially tested among more than 500 patients in clinical trials conducted in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Patients selected were aged 18 years and older who had been suffering form erectile dysfunction for at least six months and were in a stable relationship with a female partner.

Results in the clinical trial in Malaysia showed that 86 percent of men with erection problems improved after 12 weeks of taking the pill as against 33 percent taking a placebo.

Viagra was also shown to be effective in approximately seven of 10 men overall, whose erectile dysfunction was attributed to biological factors like diabetes, spinal cord injury and high blood pressure or psychological causes.

The most common side effects of the drug are headache, facial flushing and indigestion. Health experts warned that patients taking nitrates in any form, including the heart medicine nitroglycerin should not use Viagra, otherwise they could be at risk of developing cardiac arrest.

Since Viagra was launched as the first oral treatment for erectile dysfunction, physicians have written more that 17 million prescriptions for more than six million patients in the US alone. In 1999, sales were more than $1 billion.