Pfizer's Viagra An Expensive Hit In Senegal >PFE
12/20/98
DAKAR, Senegal (AP)--Although four pills cost a month's wage for many Senegalese government workers, demand for the anti-impotence drug Viagra surged within hours of its release for sale.
Drugstore owners in the trend-conscious capital of this West African country on Sunday reported a flood of mainly well-to-do middle-aged men as Viagra was released to drugstore shelves by manufacturer Pfizer a day earlier.
"Since Saturday, many people, mostly in their forties and above, have been asking for it," said Moussa Coulibaly, a salesman at a Dakar pharmacy. "However most don't have prescriptions yet. We expect sales to be high on Monday."
The pills are priced at about $60 for four pills, or roughly equivalent to the monthly salary of workers with menial government jobs.
"I welcome the sale of the drug," said Alassane Fall, a middle-aged male civil servant in Dakar. "But I'm flabbergasted at the price. I can't afford it."
Other pharmacists said they had been surprised that demand was so strong despite the onset earlier this week of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in which sexual activity is forbidden for Muslim adherents.
Although Senegal is a majority-Muslim country, there is a strong liberal sector of society with cultural and fashion ties to the country's former colonial ruler, France.
Viagra is made by Pfizer Inc. (PFE).
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