By Cam McGrath
CAIRO, May 31 2002 (IPS)

At up to 30 dollars a pill Viagra is not cheap, but Egyptian men cannot have enough of it.

A huge black market in the “miracle pill” has grown over recent years. Some reports that the government is preparing to license local production of Viagra have smugglers worried. But whoever supplies it, the demand grows.

Pfizer Egypt has sought permission to manufacture Viagra locally since its U.S. parent company Pfizer Inc. introduced the anti-impotence drug in 1998. The Ministry of Health has refused a licence on the grounds that the drug may carry health risks.

Doctors and pharmacists insist the drug is safe. The ban on distribution means they cannot help the estimated 2.5 million men suffering from impotence, they say.

“We endorse the licensing of Viagra, as it is a good, effective product for some patients,” says Dr Zakareya Gad, chairman of the Pharmacists Syndicate.

The ban has not stopped Egyptians getting the drug illegally. Millions of pills are brought into Egypt each year by land, air and sea.

Customs officials at Cairo airport made their biggest haul of smuggled Viagra early May when they seized about 300,000 of the blue pills in the baggage of an Egyptian businessman and his wife returning from the United Arab Emirates.

It is a lucrative market. Before the ban, the unregistered drug was available in pharmacies for about 16 dollars per tablet. It is now sold under the counter at many pharmacies for about twice as much. The more determined the government gets to uphold the ban on Viagra, the higher its price rises on the black market.

“There are many types of ‘Viagra’ available on the black market, and most of them do not work,” says pharmacist Amgad Adolf. “Even if the package is sealed and says ‘Made in the USA’ it does not always contain real Viagra.”

Adolf says most of the ‘Viagra’ sold in Egypt is produced in Syria under the brand name Vega. But even this has its imitations.

“Real Vega comes in blocks of four pills with the word ‘Asia’ pressed into the plastic, which has soft dimples,” he says. “With fake Vega, the word ‘Asia’ is only written in ink and the plastic has deep dimples.”

By conservative estimates, Egyptians spend 40 million to 50 million dollars a year on smuggled Viagra and its imitations.

The government has never said so publicly, but many believe the real reason for banning the anti-impotence drug is to check the population growth. Egypt has a population of more than 67 million growing at an alarming 2.5 per cent a year.

“This despite the country’s high level of impotence in men due to smoking, pollution and pesticides in the food,” says a foreign resident. “Can you imagine what the growth rate would be if the entire male population got on Viagra?”

Foods purported to enhance virility have always been popular in Egypt. Viagra is intended to help men suffering from erectile dysfunction, but many healthy Egyptian males seek to use it for preventive purposes or simply for bragging rights.

The average Viagra buyer in Egypt is a male under 30, says Kimo who peddles the blue pills in Cairo’s El-Musky district. “Egyptian men are obsessed with their sex drive,” he says.

If you cannot find Viagra there are always the Cook Door sandwich shops who have done brisk business with the “Viagra 2000” sandwich, a seafood cocktail which is claimed to have the same effect as the blue pill. At close to three dollars it is the most expensive sandwich on the menu, but the price has not deterred men. Orders invariably orders draw giggles and thumbs up signs from the all-male counter staff.

State newspaper Al-Akhbar Al-Yom reported last week that the Ministry of Health is preparing to offer an unnamed local pharmaceuticals company a license to produce Viagra. Shares of Pfizer Egypt and the Egyptian International Pharmaceutical Industries Company (EIPIC) skyrocketed on the news, closing up five per cent – the daily limit allowed by the Cairo bourse – each day since Sunday.

“No company was mentioned in the news reports, but most market participants assumed it would be Pfizer,” says Hussein Abdel Halim, head of research at brokerage Sigma Capital. “There was also talk that other companies would be able to produce a generic drug to be sold at a lower price.” Ministry of Health officials have denied the reports.

“There is no decision for handling Viagra,” Dr Galal Menoufi, manager of the ministry’s pharmacy section told IPS. “Perhaps there will be one soon, but no decision has been made yet.”

Pfizer spokesman Dr Ahmed Hakim insisted, however, that the ministry has informed the company of its intention to grant it a license for production. He expects written confirmation to follow in the coming few days.

“This drug has not been approved for three years and it is important to patients in Egypt,” he says.

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