Updated 4 hours ago
By Hossam Fazulla, BBC Arab
Photo credit, Getty Images
Studies have shown that Egypt has one of the highest rates of drug use to treat impotence in the Arab world.
In his apothecary in the historic district of Bab al-Shaaria, in the heart of Cairo, herbalist Rabea al-Habashi presents what he calls his “magic mixtures”.
Mr. Habashi has made a name for himself selling aphrodisiacs and natural sex products in the Egyptian capital.
Over the past few years, however, he has seen a shift in what his customers are looking for the most.
“Most men now go for the blue pills they get from Western companies,” he explains.
According to several studies, young Arab men are increasingly using drugs such as sildenafil (known under the trade name Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra, Staxyn) and tadalafil (Cialis).
Despite this evidence, most of the young men the BBC spoke to on the streets of Egypt and Bahrain denied using or even knowing regarding erection medication.
Some even refused to talk regarding the issue in the first place, as they deemed it ” once morest the morals of society”.
In fact, according to a 2012 study, Egypt was the second highest consumer of drugs to treat impotence per capita in the Arab world.
Saudi Arabia topped the list.
Al-Riyadh, the Saudi newspaper that published the report, estimated at the time that Saudis annually spent $1.5 billion (over 929 million FCFA) on sexual enhancement pills.
The consumption of Saudi Arabia was regarding 10 times higher than that of Russia, whose population was then five times larger, the newspaper said.
According to herbalist Rabea al-Habashi, more men than ever are choosing drugs to treat impotence.
More recently, results from a study conducted by the Arab Journal of Urology showed that 40% of participating young Saudi men had used a Viagra-like drug at some point in their lives.
Egypt still occupies a prominent place.
According to national statistics for 2021, sales of impotence drugs amount to approximately $127 million (over 78 billion FCFA) per year, or 2.8% of the entire Egyptian pharmaceutical market.
Pressures on men
Inevitably, some want a piece of the action.
In 2014, an impotence drug called Al-Fankoush appeared in Egyptian grocery stores as a chocolate bar.
Al-Fankoush was sold at the price of one Egyptian pound ($0.05 or 305 FCFA).
Shortly following its release, distribution of Al-Fankoush was halted and its producer was arrested by security forces following local media reported that it had been sold to children.
It is known that the use of drugs for impotence is more prevalent among older men than among younger ones.
In Yemen, however, health ministry data shows that they are mostly used by men aged 20 to 45.
Local reports suggest that the use of Viagra and Cialis as recreational drugs for parties has become a phenomenon among young men since the start of the civil war between the Houthi rebel movement and the Saudi-backed government in 2015. .
Mohamed Sfaxi, a Tunisian professor of urology and reproductive surgery, pointed out in a BBC interview that these drugs were “not stimulants” and were there to treat conditions which, in the most cases “afflict the elderly”.
Meanwhile, a Middle Eastern sexuality expert suggests that young Arab men are turning to erection pills because of the dominant culture.
“The reason may point to a bigger problem facing young Arab men,” says Shereen El Feki, Egyptian-British journalist and author of Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World. in a changing Arab world).
Responding to the results of a major UN-backed 2017 survey on gender equality in the Middle East, Ms. El Feki explains: “almost all male participants were afraid of the future and how they were going. support their families.
Many men spoke of the enormous pressure of being a man, while women described “how men aren’t men anymore”.
“As what it means to be a man comes under pressure, and sexual potency becomes embedded in the culture of masculinity, sexual performance is more challenged,” she explains.
Ms El Feki attributes this pressure on performance in part to misconceptions and inflated expectations created by pornography “which alters young men’s notions of what is ‘normal’ when it comes to manhood”.
Historical perceptions
While the use of drugs for sexual needs can be considered a modern phenomenon in Arab societies, the consumption of aphrodisiacs has been part of popular culture throughout Arab history.
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, an important 14th century Islamic scholar and writer, included in his series of books Provisions for the Herefollowing a collection of herbal recipes aimed at increasing sexual desire.
Shereen El Feki suggests that in the Arab tradition and Islamic heritage, “women are historically considered to be much more powerful and have more sexual drives than men”, while men feel the need “to improve their sexual performance to stay in the game”.
This idea is reflected in the time of the Ottoman Empire, when the writer Ahmed bin Suleiman wrote The Sheikh’s Return to Youth at the request of Sultan Selim I, who reigned from 1512 to 1520.
The book was an encyclopedia of herbal medicines and recipes to treat sexual diseases and stimulate male and female sexual desires.
Hundreds of years later, many young Arab men still turn to these remedies, the market for which is very dynamic.