It’s now available over the counter without prescription.
It was announced a week ago that Viagra would now be sold over the counter at supermarkets and pharmacies without a prescription for the first time ever in the UK.
They began selling at a price of £19.99 for a pack of four pills, but now supermarkets are beginning to cut prices dramatically in a bid to take control of a market potentially worth millions.
Asda have started the price war by offering pills for as little as £3.75, selling packs of eight for £30. The going rate is typically between £35 and £40, which works out at a minimum of £4.37 per pill, much higher than what Asda are offering.
Prices look set to continue to drop, too, as other supermarkets attempt to grab a share of the action. Prescriptions of viagra had tripled in the UK over the last decade, and it is said that one in five men in the UK suffer from erectile dysfunction – equivalent to 4.3 million people.
Men over the age of 18 can get the pills without a note from their doctor, but will need to speak to a pharmacist in store to ensure that they are healthy enough to actually to take the pills safely. £17 million worth of counterfeit or unlicensed viagra was seized in 2016.
Viagra Connect manufacturer Pfizer believe the move to widen availability of the drug will help men to be more proactive in seeking help for erectile dysfunction.
“The launch of Viagra Connect offers men a new and convenient route of access to treat the symptoms of erectile dysfunction,” Kristie Sourial MRPharmS, medical manager for Pfizer, previously said.
“It’s important to remember that erectile dysfunction is a medical condition and that the impact often goes beyond the physical symptoms – it can lead to men feeling anxious, depressed and lacking in confidence.”
