IVORY COAST: HERBAL REMEDY "TOOTHPICK VIAGRA " IS A TRADITIONAL APHRODIASIAC IN IVORY COAST

Record ID: 182840

  • Title: IVORY COAST: HERBAL REMEDY "TOOTHPICK VIAGRA " IS A TRADITIONAL APHRODIASIAC IN IVORY COAST
  • Date: 7th November 1999
  • Summary: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, IVORY COAST (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS CLOSEUPS OF VIAGRA BOXES 2. CHEMIST STOCKING SHELF 3. CUSTOMERS AT COUNTER 4. (SOUNDBITE) (French with English Translation) DR KIE DANIELLE "I notice the Europeans come themselves with their prescriptions and the Africans tend to send someone to get it for them. (Q: Why?) Because the Europeans don't have a complex. They come themselves to pick up their medicines. But the Africans do have a complex about impotence, so they send somebody." 5. LOCAL MARKET 6. TOOTHPICK VIAGRA ON SALE 7. MAN EATING TOOTHPICK VIAGRA 8. VARIOUS CLOSEUPS OF TOOTHPICK VIAGRA 9. MARKET WOMEN SELLING TOOTHPICK VIAGRA 10. (SOUNDBITE) (Gourou with English Translation) MADJALIKA DOSSO, MARKET WOMAN "When you take the toothpick viagra you should eat just a tiny bit. Because it is very powerful, especially for young guys with women." 11. MADJALIKA DOSSO HANDING TOOTHPICK VIAGRA TO CUSTOMER 12. (SOUNDBITE) (French with English Translation) SEHI VINCENT "What people say about toothpick viagra is that you take it if you're impotent, that it can help for that problem. But a healthy man doesn't need viagra and the rest" 13. STREET LEADING TO VILLAGE OF DABOUZRA WHERE TOOTHPICK VIAGRA ORIGINATES 14. WIDE OF VILLAGE 15. MAN CHEWING PLANT 16. MEN AND WOMEN SITTING AROUND 17. TRA BI DRI VALENTIN LEADING REPORTER TO SHOW HIM PLANT 18. (SOUNDBITE) (Gourou with English Translation) TRA BI DRI VALENTIN "I want to show you three plants. I took three plants here. There are two more. Each time if you take it and then you sleep with your wife or with a girlfriend who sleeps with you then you go. You just don't stop." 19. VILLAGE PEOPLE SACRIFICING CHICKEN 20. MAN EATING TOOTHPICK VIAGRA 21. EXTERIOR HOSPITAL 22. DR KONAN MANZAN SITTING BEHIND HIS DESK 23. (SOUNDBITE) (French with English Translation) DR KONAN MANZAN, Urologist "Why shouldn't the toothpick viagra work. All medicines are produced from plants , all of them. This natural root is only a plant. It may contain some substance which acts on the nervous system and affects the sex drive." 24. VALENTIN'S WIVES 25. CLOSEUP VALENTIN HOLDING UP TOOTHPICK VIAGRA Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 1999 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS, IVORY COAST
  • Country: Ivory Coast
  • Reuters ID: LVAATSI99L6GPR3KO9G9FGMQVJUS
  • Story Text: It's a new kind of drug and popular amongst men with
    a certain condition...But would you ask for it over the
    chemist's counter?
    Well, in certain parts of the Ivory Coast the subject
    of sexual impotence is pretty much taboo.

    And yet it is here that the latest in the Viagra saga is
    on sale....

    Viagra.Introduced only last year in Cote d'Ivoire
    it aims to cure an age-old, but deeply taboo, problem.

    According to the experts, sexual impotence as a medical
    condition affects men mainly over 50.

    Few men would be prepared to talk about the problem,
    especially in Africa.

    Pharmacist Dr Kie Danielle says "I notice the Europeans
    come themselves with their prescriptions
    and the Africans tend to send someone to get it for
    them...because the Europeans don't have a complex.They come
    themselves to pick up their medicines.But the Africans do
    have a complex about impotence, so they send somebody."
    But at $14 per pill viagra is one week's wages for the
    average Ivorian, making it a drug for the elite.

    Besides here in a market in Abidjan, the capital of
    Cote d'Ivoire, a traditional aphrodisiac is on sale.

    Toothpick viagra.Cut from the roots of a plant, its
    advocates say it has all the power of viagra for a fraction
    of the cost.

    The viagra drug is only now being marketed.

    Toothpick viagra, say these market women, has been here
    all along and costs only $2 for six sticks: "When you take
    the toothpick viagra you should eat just a tiny bit.Because
    it is very powerful, especially for young guys with women."
    The secret of toothpick viagra is not well known even
    in Cote d'Ivoire.

    Many people have heard of it, but few know where it
    comes from.Sehi Vincent says "What people say about
    toothpick viagra is that you take it if you're impotent,
    that it can help for that problem.But a healthy man doesn't
    need viagra and the rest."
    But Africa Journal traced the secret back to its
    source among the Gouro people of central Cote d'Ivoire.

    The root is chewed like a toothpick and its advocates
    say it is an aphrodisiac and even cures impotence.If
    that's not enough, it also cleans your teeth.

    No wonder songs have been written about it and it
    has gained an unofficial title among women who call it,
    "Let me sleep".

    It's used mainly by old men who want to be restored
    to their sexual prime.

    Tra Bi Dri Valentin says his aging father told him
    about the secret of Cure Dents Gouro before he died.Even
    now he is reticent to show exactly which forest root
    contains the legendary property: " I want to show you three
    plants.I took three plants here.There are two more.Each
    time if you take it and then you sleep with your wife or
    with a girlfriend who sleeps with you then you go.You just
    don't stop."
    Back in the village, the process of eating the
    toothpick is surrounded by ritual.A chicken will be
    sacrificed in honour of Valentin's father.

    The ceremony is watched intently, not least by
    Valentin's two wives.

    It's considered good news for the men.Not such good
    news for the bird.

    Here the toothpick viagra is not chewed.Different
    plants are crushed into a powder and placed on the tongue.

    Modern medicine is yet to test the properties of the
    toothpick viagra.But at least one specialist said there was
    no logical reason why it's powers should not be respected -
    "Why shouldn't the toothpick viagra work.All medicines are
    produced from plants, all of them.This natural root is only
    a plant.It may contain some substance which acts on the
    nervous system and affects the sex drive."
    Valentine's two wives both said they approve of
    toothpick viagra.

    Toothpick viagra is yet to gain medical
    recognition.But Valentin swears by it and since he has 13
    children, perhaps he should know.
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