THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Promotion of cure for sexual disorders is illegal. Yet it is the most advertised category of fraudulent cures, says the Campaign Against Pseudo Science Using Law and Ethics (CAPSULE).Sexual problems occupied 31% of the classified advertisements in regional language publications in 2018 in Kerala. A survey by CAPSULE found that the share of such treatment promotions has increased to 34% after the first three waves of Covid.The advertisements appear mostly as classified or as poster on roadside.
The advertisements either promote drugs that falsely claim to strengthen sex organs, improve sexual prowess or address other sexual problems. All of these are illegal under various sections of Drugs and Cosmetic Act 1940 and Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable advertisement) Act 1954. Health activists say a lack of effective regulation and poor facilities in government hospi facilities to address sexual problems prompt more people to opt for such treatment centres.
“Patients with sexual problems are reluctant to visit a crowded public hospital that offers little privacy. Either big corporate hospitals and quacks offer the much needed privacy. Those practising fraudulent practices are emboldened because they know that patients rarely come out in the open against the treatment or the product,” said CAPSULE chairman Dr U Nandakumar.
Social activist and Kannur Medical College professor Dr Jayasree A K said the advertisements on sexual problems mainly target men who are hesitant to discuss them with qualified doctors.“We had faced similar issues in the treatment of HIV cases. But such issues should not be the priority for the state government which has several other issues in health sector such as contraception and abortion. They need to be considered first. A proper referral system in government hospitals will help in attending to a large number of similar cases,” she said.
Drugs Controller P M Jayan said outrageous advertisements addressing sexual problems have come down. He, however, said present law was not a deterrent for companies to make such fraudulent claims.
The classified advertisements on treating alcohol abuse and piles have increased, but the promotions for beauty and hair growth products have come down between 2018 and 2022, according to CAPSULE convenor M P Anil Kumar.