A field study carried out by a number of Pharmaceutical companies and senior pharmacists in Egypt has revealed that 7.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.9b approximately) are spent each year by Egyptian citizens on the male impotence treatment pills, Viagra.
According to the study results, these sums will increase to nine billion pounds due to the decline of the pound against the dollar.
The study also indicated that the average individual monthly consumption of the medicine ranges between five to seven tablets. The number of tablets smuggled annually into the country amounts to 40 millions with the price of each tablet ranging between 40 and 50 pounds.
Al Ahram daily newspaper reported that the study, which included more than 40 pharmacists and a large number of venereal diseases and skin specialists throughout the country, revealed that this type of illegal business is an organized commercal operation carried out by a number of smugglers. These smugglers dictate the selling price burdening the government with seven and a half billion pounds every year.
The daily said that these operations are considered to be the worst types of smuggling because they erode the family budget. The average monthly family expenditure on Viagra ranges between 180-300 pounds.
In a related incident, Egyptian customs Friday foiled an attempt to smuggle in 800 tablets of the Viagra through Cairo airport, according to AFP.
The customs officers found the tablets in the jacket and handbag of a Syrian passenger arriving with her husband on board a Syrian plane coming from Damascus, the agency said.
Customs chief Salah Suf ordered the confiscation of the tablets, which the passenger claimed to be carrying on behalf of a trader.
Egyptian customs foiled an attempt to smuggle in 10,000 Viagra tablets in January at Cairo airport, added AFP.
The Egyptian health ministry authorized the sale of Viagra on prescription in January, after banning it back in May 1998.
Viagra is, however, available on the black market at exorbitant prices of up to 150 Egyptian pounds (40 dollars) a tablet, according to the agency.
Al Ahram’s report mentioned that there have been requests from foreign countries, which import Egyptian medicines, to buy this medicine at two dollars per tablet provided that the medicine is registered in Egypt. These countries proposed the allocation of 10 percent of sales for the treatment of blood diseases and cancer among children in addition to opening markets for the medicine abroad when it is manufactured in Egypt.
Viagra is manufactured by Pfizer, one of the biggest drug makers in the world, with annual sales of nearly 30 billion dollars (32 billion euros) -- Albawaba.com
