Firstmed Blog

A recent report in the News of the World indicated that men in the north of England spend more money on purchases of erectile dysfunction treatments, such as Viagra, than anywhere else in the country. While the article is accurate in its findings, I feel that the piece didn’t adequately cover the reasons why this may be the case. It’s not simply that more men in the north of the country suffer from erectile dysfunction but rather, it is a question of a health divide in general.

We at Firstmed felt the tone of the article feeds into regional stereotypes. It seemed almost triumphant in its announcement that Northerners aren’t so ‘hard’ after all and that in truth, it is the so-called ‘Southern Softies’ who are sitting pretty, so to speak.

It is true that NHS figures indicate that the highest spending regions (with the notable exception of the London Borough of Islington) are located in the north. Top spenders are from Knowsley in Merseyside, where GPs hand out £148,000 worth of Viagra every year.

The area spends an average of £1.86 per head on impotence treatments. Still in the north-west, Halton and St Helens, Salford, Blackpool, Manchester and Stockport all feature in the top 10 biggest spenders. In contrast, the list of lowest spenders was found to feature mainly southern areas. The southern regions of Barking and Dagenham, Kingston and Richmond, Havering, and Twickenham all feature in a bottom 10, spending as little as 80p per head on the treatment.

However, the article fails to articulate a possible reason for these findings. The reason is simple. The problem is not simply about erectile dysfunction but about a health divide in general

The increase in the incidence of ED in the north is primarily related to the increased rate of health problems strongly associated with erectile dysfunction, such as obesity, diabetes, smoking and cancer. Northern men are the highest rates of obesity in the country. Northern men’s life expectancy is two years shorter than men in the south. The North West and the North East regions have higher than average death rates from smoking-related diseases.

Although there is a significant psychological element inherent in achieving an erection, ED is not ‘all in the head’ as previously believed. In fact physical conditions are causative in 90% of ED cases. There is a long acknowledged and significant north-south health divide in the UK. If it common knowledge that Northern areas have higher obesity rates, more smoking-related deaths and lower life expectancies, than it can hardly be a surprising revelation that the area spends more on ED medication.