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A year after Sri Lankan troops bought multi-barrel rockets and swing-wing jets to resist a massive offensive by Tamil rebels another key “weapon” is being inducted to fight a different battle.
The latest acquisition by the medical corps has the potential to raise morale to new heights in an army where nearly a tenth of troops have been wounded in fighting separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in the north-east.
The army is experimenting with the new sexual arousal drug, Viagra, in the treatment of war-wounded as rehabilitation is given top billing after President Chandrika Kumaratunga placed the country on a “war footing”.
“We have just got the samples of Viagra,” said Dr Sriyani Warusawitharana who heads the rehabilitation offensive. “We want to start the treatment on some married soldiers who have recovered from their injuries.”
She said the war-wounded often suffered psychological problems, particularly due to losing limbs from anti-personnel mines.
“We are looking at the sexual aspects of treatment,” she said. “We are getting help from a university for this programme.”
Warusawitharana said the injured soldiers initially suffer fears of rejection by society, but with the help of professional counselling and support from colleagues most make remarkable recoveries.
Viagra, which was approved as a prescription drug in Sri Lanka only four months ago, was introduced at 685 rupees (about $6.4) for the smaller 25mg pill and considered expensive by local standards. But money is no object in this case.
Viagra is being given to babies and children to try to save them from a deadly disorder of blood circulation in the lungs.
Case reports from India, Canada, the US and Britain suggest the anti-impotence drug is a promising treatment for pulmonary hypertension, New Scientist reports. Critics worry that no clinical trials have taken place, although adult trials are planned.
Pfizer, the drug's maker, says the new use for Viagra makes sense, given that its original purpose was to treat angina by opening up blood vessels.
Viagra, the male anti-impotence drug, is having an unexpected side effect: it is saving certain animal species from extinction.
Research in Canada and Australia has shown that the drug's ready cure for erectile problems has dramatically reduced the demand for the body parts of certain animals that have traditionally been seen as a cure, according to the New Scientist magazine.
The magazine's website quotes Frank von Hippel of the University of Alaska as saying: "Viagra is cheaper than many animal products and its action is pronounced, immediate and effective."
Among the species being inadvertently saved are Alaskan reindeer, which are hunted for antler, and hooded seals and harp seals, which are hunted for their genitalia.
Antler sales are said to have fallen by 72% between 1997 and 1998 alone.
The price of another supposed erection cure, the penis of the harp seal, has fallen from $100 to around $15.
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