Women in India were hopeful when they heard that the Indian Medical Association IMA) was launching a new initiative to raise sexual health awareness among doctors. The idea was sold as a program to sensitize doctors and break the taboos around talking about sex and sexual health issues.
A strong focus on erectile dysfunction
But things aren’t looking so good for women in terms of the initiative now. When First Post contacted the chairman of the initiative, Dr. Deepak Jumani, he only wanted to talk about erectile dysfunction. It seemed that no matter the question posted by First Post, Dr. Jumani kept coming back to the idea that doctors have to ask uncomfortable questions about erectile dysfunction.
“Patients don’t talk about [erectile dysfunction] and doctors don’t ask about it,” Dr. Jumani told First Post. “We should remove the taboos so that we can talk about [erectile dysfunction], just like we talk about allergies, fissures or cancers. Everyone has bedroom woes which affect their relationships.”
Was he finally starting to address women’s sexual woes? No.
According to First Post:
When pressed about how the program was going to help patients who were not male, he did have something to say … but again, only in relation to the problems faced by the wives and partners of male patients suffering from erectile dysfunction.
Dr. Jumani added, “When men have erectile dysfunction, they stop having sex.”
Treating erectile dysfunction in the U.S.
Admittedly, erectile dysfunction is an important issue. According to Viagra’s website, about half of men over 40 have erectile dysfunction, which affects about 30 million men.
Viagra does serve as a sort of miracle drug for many men; it works for more than 80 percent of men with erectile dysfunction. This is why it’s the top selling erectile dysfunction drug—and the most counterfeited—in the world.
Still, the IMA needs to address the sexual health issues of both men and women.
