Tenth anniversary of Viagra prompts vital discussion on men's health

The leading medication, best known for its treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED), has been used by more than 35 million men in over 120 countries. More than 1.8 billion 'little blue' Viagra tablets have been consumed.

A major meeting of the Africa Gulf Society for Sexual Medicine in Cairo this week discussed the medical, emotional and social impact of the treatment.

The break-through treatment has been a market leader in the Africa and Middle East region since its introduction onto the market. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates can claim to be the region's largest per capita consumers of Viagra.

"The treatment has transformed the lives of millions of couples worldwide since its launch ten years ago, and has also had a profoundly positive medical impact in Africa and the Middle East region. Even as we predict greater numbers of men with ED in the coming decades, Viagra has already well-established itself as the 'gold standard' treatment for erectile dysfunction," said Prof. Khaled Dabees, President of Africa Gulf Society of Sexual Medicine.

Continued safe and effective ED treatment worldwide is critically important, said Dr. Dabees, because the number of men diagnosed with ED will increase from 152 million in 1995 to 322 million by the year 2025.

"Viagra has dramatically changed the way people think and talk about sexual medicine," said Dr. Amr Gad, Riyadh-based President of the Saudi Andrology Group. "Men once hid their crippling ED conditions; now they feel much more comfortable approaching their doctors and speaking up about their frustrating ED symptoms and much earlier than ever before."

Cairo-based Prof. Tarek Anis, President of the Pan Arab Society of Sexual Medicine, adds that Viagra's impact on quality of life has been studied extensively, and findings demonstrate clearly that satisfaction with sex life is closely related to satisfaction with life in general both for the man being treated with Viagra and his partner.

The safety and efficacy of Viagra has been well documented in more than 120 clinical studies, including 67 double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of more than 14,000 patients. Viagra has been approved by regulatory authorities in over 120 countries and is among the world's most widely-prescribed medications.

In response to Viagra's position as probably the world's most copied drug, Pfizer has said that it remains committed to the global fight against the counterfeiting of medicines of any kind, as counterfeit drugs are often very dangerous to consume, in addition to being a legal infringement on the intellectual property rights of the drug's maker.