Pak may permit sale of Viagra

Himalayan News Service

Islamabad, January 31:

Concerned at the booming grey market sales of the anti-impotency drug Viagra in Pakistan, a government panel has recommended it be registered and its sale be legalised.

Seven years ago, the authorities had ruled that Viagra sales were ‘not in public interest’. The new push has come from the Drug Appellate Board at its meeting here on Janurary 27 chaired by Health Secretary Anwar Mehmood.

Also referred to the Drug Registration Board were appeals from manufacturers of 15 other anti-impotency drugs to permit sales of their products in Pakistan, The News reported on Monday. “The registration board has been directed to weigh the applications of all the 16 companies in line with an earlier case where a private company was allowed to sell a similar category of drug in Pakistan,” the newspaper said.

Pfizer Laboratories, Karachi, the Pakistani arm of the US pharmaceutical major, had been trying to get Viagra registered since 1998.