Sociologists and psychiatrists link the growing demand for sex pills to performance anxiety and depression related to tension in the Valley.
SRINAGAR: Zahoor Ahmad, a 34-year-old businessman in conservative Kashmir, admits he is a frequent user of sildenafil citrate, the main ingredient of the sex pill Viagra and its generic versions. “I take the pill just for pleasure, mainly for daytime love-making,” he hastens to add.
But sociologists and psychiatrists link the growing demand for sex pills to performance anxiety and depression related to the persistent tension in the Valley due to militancy.
“People have suffered physically and mentally during the last 17 years of turmoil in Kashmir. This is why we see zooming sales of such medicines in the Valley,” says Dr Bashir Ahmad Dabla, professor in the department of sociology, University of Kashmir.
Dr Arshad Hussain, consultant at the Government Psychiatry Hospital here, concurs: “Ten percent of the people taking this drug have genuine erectile dysfunction. But most others who take it suffer from depression that affects their sexual health or they have performance anxiety.”
Cashing in on the demand are drug companies. From branded to generic products, almost every company manufacturing drugs based on sildenafil citrate is entering Kashmir with a slew of promotional offers for retailers. According to industry sources, the annual turnover of the slidenafil citrate tablets has crossed Rs 3 crore in Kashmir Valley.
“We are selling Manforce 50 (sildenafil citrate) worth Rs 12 lakh per month in Kashmir. Last year, we were selling Rs 9 lakh per month of the same drug,” says Bilal Ahmad, district manager of Mankind Pharmaceuticals.
One of the reasons put forward for this phenomenon is the suppression of normal life. “Sex was always a taboo and not to be talked about, but with the inception of militancy the severity of these notions has considerably increased,” notes a study by Oxfam on the impact of violence in Kashmir.
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