Jianyang Capsule, a kind of Chinese-style Viagra, has been put on sale in the drug stores in Shanghai.

It is the first time the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) medicine for erectile dysfunction (ED) has been made available outside hospitals.

Some Western drugs, including Viagra, have been in China for several years but as non-OTC medicines, they are only allowed access in hospitals.

Many Chinese buy kidney-toning medicines in an effort to handle ED, but they are generally ineffective, said Lu Zuqiang, sales manager of the Guizhou Jianxing Medicine, producer of the Jianyang capsule.

According to Lu, some drugs composed of the banned ingredients of Viagra are sold on the black market.

The Jianyang Capsule is the first homemade ED TCM drug approved by the government, said Lu, and they hope to snap up a large market share.

The medicine is expected to be sold in some 500 drugstores in Shanghai soon.

Statistics show that one quarter of Chinese males suffer from physiological or psychological sexual dysfunction which causes problems such as ED.

Due to a richer lifestyle causing cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, the incidence in the coastal areas where the economy is more developed is two to three times higher than those in inland regions.

Last year, Viagra saw a sales volume of nearly 50 million yuan (6 million US dollars) in the mainland areas of China. The annual sales volume of medicines coping with ED is estimated at 2 billion Yuan (241 million US dollars) in China.

(People's Daily February 24, 2003)