Uganda: The Tempting Drug That Lira Men Have Turned To

(By Bill Oketch)

"Nurse can I have our Shs1,500 drug" is becoming one of the common requests at most
drug shops in Lira Municipality.

And although it sounds like an ordinary request to any health practitioner, in Lira today,
it can only mean one thing, someone (a man) is requesting for the sex-enhancement
drug, Penegra.

A recent survey conducted by Daily Monitor in private health facilities around Teso Bar,
Jinja Camp, Barogole and Rainbow Trading Centre in Lira Municipality revealed that
many men have taken to buying Penegra.

Penegra pill is a generic medication used to treat men's impotence or erectile

dysfunction. The drug costs between Shs1,500 to Shs2,000.

Most pharmacists in Lira said both the elderly and youth start buying the drug when it's
approaching bedtime, usually between 8pm and 10pm.

Hamza Okello, the Atek Okwer Ibu clan youth leader, said he sat in a clinic in Oyam
District recently and within 20 minutes six young men had bought Penegra. This reporter
also witnessed two transactions at Rainbow and another at Teso Bar.

The Weight of Stress

"Quite often young men are interested in sex but few of them want to adequately
prepare their minds for it. I believe this is due to the stress young people sometimes
have. Unemployment, high cost of living and alcoholism are leading causes of stress and
as a result there is a desire for a quick fix," Okello says.

The bolder men go to the drug shop or clinic and ask without mincing words 'nurse I
want manpower'. "There are those who do not want other people to know what type of
drug they are buying. So they say" "nurse mia yat wa ca me Shs1,500" (nurse give me
our Shs1,500drug)- the blue one," Immaculate Onyera, a nurse at Rainbow drug shop,
says. She reveals that her customers are both the youth and the elderly.

An 18-year-old man recently bought the pill from a shop in Teso Bar, Onyera says. "He
told me, 'nurse I want to be open to you; my girlfriend is coming tonight, so I want you
to give me the drug that can increase my strength."

The young man, according to the nurse, did not have any problem having an erection
but he just wanted to prove a point to his girl.

"What amused me one day at 10pm, a man possibly in his 70s came and asked for the
drug," Onyera says. "Most times only common faces come for the drug. Other teenage
boys claim they are sent by their fathers to buy it."

Geoffrey Ameny, 24, was in a relationship with his 20-year-old girlfriend for three
months and all was fine. But shortly after, his libido went low. "I felt so embarrassed
because I knew I was not satisfying my woman," a nurse quotes him. Ameny went to
the clinic in search of the solution and ended up using the drug.

"There is one boy, who told me that whenever I see him I should not ask, but instead
pick the drug and give him," a nurse at Barogole clinic says.
Over the past several years, Sam, 70, suffered symptoms of erectile dysfunction. After a
breakup with his first woman at 50, the resident of Lira Town developed erectile
dysfunction.

This year, he began using one tablet of Penegra to maintain an erection for his current
22-year-old partner. He takes the pills to sustain intimacy in their relationship.

Traditionally, it appears nothing much can be done to deal with erectile dysfunction
which is said to be one of the causes of divorce and extramarital affairs in Lango sub-
region.

A Touchy Subject

"Most times people don't come out openly to talk about erectile dysfunction. In most
cases it develops as one grows old and therefore for fear of shame, they don't open up,"
Okello says.

Many sites, including MedlinePlus, say Penegra has proven one excellent pill to cope with
impotency. It is cost-effective and a highly recommended oral pill. But experts warn that
drug abuse can lead to dire consequences.

Dr James Okullo, the Erute North health sub-district in-charge, says Penegra is used
specifically to treat men's impotence but not for any other usage.

According to him, very few men in Lira could be having such a condition (erectile
dysfunction).

Adapted 30/08/16 from: © 2016 AllAfrica

http://allafrica.com/stories/201608270003.html