Malawi diabetic men warned on Viagra use

Program manager for Communicable diseases in the Ministry of Health, Dr Beatrice Mwagomba has warned men with diabetes to desist from using the anti-impotence drug Viagra without consulting their doctor as it has some inside effects.

Mwagomba made the remarks on Thursday in Blantyre when responding to a question during a news conference on the occassion of the World Diabetes Day commemoration which was held on Friday.

She confirmed that one of the main sexual problems men with diabetes face is the inability to have an erection due to the vascular system can impair blood flow.

Mwagomba said if the blood vessels aren’t functioning properly or if an artery is blocked, not enough blood will travel to the penis, making it difficult to get an erection.

She went on to state that millions of men suffer from impotence, and it is more common among men with diabetes than others.

“The most common causes of impotence in men with diabetes are physical problems such as blood vessel disease and nerve disease. When nerves are damaged, small blood vessels don’t relax, so they can’t grow larger with the flow of blood that causes an erection,” she said.

She however, warned that despite Viagra being tested and found effective in men with diabetes, many men take the lifestyle medications without consulting their doctor which is risky.

In  her speech, Diabetes Association of Malawi President Timothy Ntambalika appealed to religious leaders to desist from telling diabetic patients to stop taking medicine for prayers.

“A patient is on insulin and here comes a religious leader telling him to throw that away for prayers. Do not tell lies to people because no any bible college teaches pastors to tell their flocks to throw away medicine for anointed water,” she said.

She however, lobbied for a national conference on this issue because he said it now getting out of hands, as hundreds of diabetic patients are told to stop taking medicine for anointed water.

“We are not undermining their faith but they must know that they are killing innocent people because most of them obey their teachings since they are desperate,” he said.