‘Viagra users getting younger’

Not just for the so-called "young once," but for the young ones as well.

Contrary to public perception, the clientele of the popular anti-impotence pill Viagra is not limited to oldies but now includes yuppies and middle-aged executives, a lawmaker and general surgeon by profession revealed late Wednesday.

Rep. Ferjenel Biron of Iloilo City said more and more young people — those in their 30s and 40s — are using the drug even if they don’t have erectile dysfunction, an ailment associated with those in their 60s and older.

"Not all Viagra users have problems of erectile dysfunction. In fact, most of them only use it to enhance their erection," Biron said.

Some of those who bought Viagra did so for curiosity’s sake, he said, to test if its effect lasts from eight to 12 hours, as claimed.

Biron said this was the reason why Unilab — a local pharmaceutical company — created a counterpart to Viagra, whose manufacturer is Pfizer India. Viagra sells for as much as P600 per pill when its equivalent in India sells for just P60.

The physician lawmaker disclosed that there is a "growing market" of Viagra users in the Philippines especially now that Unilab, who named their sex drug "Andros," is offering it for half of Viagra’s price in local drugstores, or about P300.

"It’s now locally available," he said. "Competition must be heightened to attain an affordable price not only of Viagra but on all medicines."

Biron, a member of the House committee on good government, is one of the 14 physician-congressmen who want to lower the prices of local medicines.

Filipinos using the drug pill, he observed, often want to "improve their sexual performance," noting the Filipino’s macho image. "Well, it’s an open secret that men, not only Filipinos, are polygamous by nature. For sure, they only want to make women happy."

Viagra users often experience facial blushing, or their whole body "turns red," accompanied by a swollen feeling and a headache "due to the dilation of the blood vessels," he said, revealing the drug’s side effects.