Headline: Viagra fever grips Goa. By: Devika Sequeira Source: Deccan Herald 10 March 2003 at: http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/mar102004/b7.asp
It costs one-tenth the foreign version. The booming sales of Sildenafil Citrate (known better as Viagra) to foreigners has spawned a roaring blackmarket of yet another prescription drug in this tourist destination. PANAJI, Mar 9 It can be sold by retail only on the prescription of a urologist, psychiatrist, endocrinologist or nephrologist. But if you are on holiday in Goa, chances are that you can buy Sildenafil Citrate off hawkers on any beach here. So easily available is the drug that huge quantities of it are being "clandestinely carried out of the country by foreign tourists", say leading physicians and pharmacists here. And the price factor is what really drives the sales up. "While the price of one tablet of Viagra is around 12 US dollars, the desi version comes for as little as Rs 20 (per tablet of 50 mgs)," a cardiologist says. "Some foreign tourists are making a business of it," he says. "They invest Rs 10,000 for a stock of the medication which they sell for over Rs 1 lakh abroad." The drug is in big demand with the elderly abroad, he says Unaccounted stocks of Sildenafil Citrate were seized by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) from pharmacies in the tourist areas of Anjuna and Vagator in December 2003. "We have inspectors constantly monitoring pharmacies in this area," says FDA director S N Tripathi. A huge range of the second generation of Sildenafil Citrate, prescribed for erectile dysfunction, is available in the pharmacies here. The more popular are Penegra (from Zydus Cadila) which sells for Rs 80 for a strip of four tablets of 50 mg, Uplift (from Wallace) and Progra (from Cipla). There is, besides, Rezum (from Dr Reddy's), Niagra (made by Pure Health), Erix (Unichem), Manforce (from Mankind), Wingora (Meyer) and Vigreks (Medley). The demand has also triggered a price war, with some pharmaceutical companies offering drug stores here stocks of the generic version at the hugely discounted price of Rs 25 for a strip that would otherwise cost Rs 80. "Without the marked price on the strip, it is very easy to hike up the cost to foreign tourists trying to buy it without a prescription," a pharmacist says. Some coastal pharmacies offload Sildenafil Citrate for as much as Rs 400 a strip, he says. Earlier this week, Ajanta Pharma released its Viagra competitor, Tadafil (Tadalafil) in the Goa market. Being marketed abroad as the "weekend pill", Tadafil promises a much longer lasting effect: "36 hours of unplanned sexual activity" with a "faster onset of action". It claims to sidestep the effects of alcohol. Concerned that the new drug will find its way into the clandestine market, the Voluntary Health Association of Goa has asked the FDA to "monitor its sale through wholesalers by asking them for a weekly statement." ============================ 2 March 2001: Navhind Times. The big demand in Goa for the Indian versions of Viagra is attributed to tourists, especially foreigners, and with a craze among the local youth to experiment with the new drug. The average price of a tablet is Rs 18. 1 April 2003: Herald. On Sunday, Customs officials at Goa airport found 19 kg of assorted drugs (Viagra, sleeping pills and vitamins valued over Rs.2 lakh) on a passenger, Lynch Peter Thomas. On the same day officials seized 200 cartons of cigarettes in three suitcases belonging to an unidentified English national travelling by another flight. 27 December 2003. Herald. Sex-pills on a new climax as season peaks in Goa. Chemists in Goa are piling up stocks of Viagra substitute pills to meet the demand from tourists. The article names some of the popular brands. Full text at: http://oheraldteam.com/?q=node/view/656 30 December 2003. Indian Express. What do Viagra sales have to do with December 31? On the sun- and feni-drenched coastal strip where beach parties are hardwork, the question is out of place. Rediscovered by the jet set, overrun by tourists, Goa is receiving a flood of pleasure-seekers looking to combine the sentiment of a New Year celebration with the sheer thrill of skinny-dipping. Full text at: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=38228 ================================================== Is it illegal for passengers to take cigarettes and drugs out of Goa with them? ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
