Erectile dysfunction prevalent in Asia: Pfizer

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2007

SINGAPORE (AFP) — An estimated 20 percent of Asian men suffer from erectile dysfunction, an executive from pharmaceutical firm Pfizer said Tuesday.

"It is a prevalent issue," Jude Selvaraj, Pfizer's medical adviser in Singapore and Malaysia, told AFP at the launch of Pfizer's new diagnostic kit to help men deal with erectile dysfunction.

"You are talking about 20 percent plus," he said, giving a rough figure.

Sex is still a taboo subject in much of Asia and many men are reluctant to admit they suffer from the problem, or to seek medical help, said Selvaraj.

According to Pfizer, which makes the anti-impotency drug Viagra, erectile dysfunction affects between 13 and 28 percent of all men aged 40 to 80.

The number of men suffering from the...