VIAGRA has caused a dispute between Egypt's Pharmacist Union and the Minister of health, who banned the sale of the much-demanded drug thus helping boost black market sales and non-licensed herbal alternatives.

The minister, Dr Ismael Sallam, said he was waiting for the Drug and Medicine Administration (DMA) to carry out further tests and studies. But pharmacists accuse the minister, who controls the DMA, of delaying tactics after he told a conservative newspaper that he believes selling viagra on a large scale could destroy traditional family ties.

Assurances by his deputy Dr Jamila Moussa, who her self is a member of the EPU, that the minister's views were his own and did not reflect official policy, cut no ice with angry pharmacists.

EPU sources put pharmacists' losses at Eg£269 Million ($66 million) in the last three month alone.

They warn of possible danger to public health from selling drugs on the black market and are unhappy about an upsurge in selling herbs and potency potions dispensed by Attarin (quacks in traditional perfume and herb stores) who practice outside MOH control.

Accusing her of siding with the government, pharmacists last week voted to strip Dr Moussa of her NPU membership, without which she can't practice. They threatened to strike, shutting over 150,000 chemists, if the MOH inspected chemists for ''non-licensed drugs.''

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