Dangerous trends of penile injection have once more surfaced in the country.
This time, reports are from the Tapini Sacred Heart and Mainohana secondary schools in the Central Province.
Fr Brian Cahill, the chairman of the board of governors, brought this to public knowledge.
He said this issue first came to the schools’ attention last year, when male students began showing similar signs of health problems, including fever and fatigue.
Medical examination at the health centre revealed that these students had undergone penis injection.
Fr Brian said cases have increased this year.
“This is not a problem confined to Sacred Heart and Mainohana. It is a problem seen in schools across the country,” he states.
He says this is a social issue that has been in existence in PNG for over a decade now.
Penile injection is actually a therapy where CaverjectTM or EdexTM (Alprostadil) is injected directly into the side of the penis and produces an erection, specifically for men with medical conditions.
This has been misrepresented in the country as being to enlarge penis. The idea was introduced from across the border – Jayapura.
Quoting a long serving doctor in PNG, Dr Greg Law, Fr Brian said it has been a huge problem nationally – even in remote parts of Bougainville and the other Islands and throughout the Highlands.
Effects have seen many men and boys who can no longer have sexual intercourse because of the deformity.
“Public awareness is urgently required to stem this trend of penis injection and prevent further damage being done on boys in our communities. This is of paramount concern,” stresses Fr Brian.