Viagra pills, and now penile prostheses: A lawmaker revealed on Tuesday that the Brazilian Defense Ministry had purchased 60 inflatable penile implants for the military.
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“I have identified a MILLIONAIRE expenditure on penile prostheses for the army,” centre-left MP Elias Vaz told AFP in a statement, who had already revealed on Monday the purchase of 35,000 viagra tablets for the troops.
The parliamentarian says he obtained information about penile implants from the Government Transparency Portal, which provides data on public spending on request.
With a unit value of 9,900 to 12,000 euros, these silicone prostheses, 10 to 25 centimeters long, cost the government some 3.5 million reais (688,000 euros), according to Mr. Vaz.
The Ministry of Defense, requested by AFP, did not immediately comment.
“Brazilian people are struggling to get medicine from health centers and one group is being treated with extremely expensive prostheses,” Vaz said.
He has promised to take legal action, along with center-right senator Jorge Kajuru, so that any irregularities can be investigated.
Penile implants are used to treat erectile dysfunction, just like viagra tablets.
The Ministry of Defense had explained on Monday about viagra that “the acquisition of sildenafil” was “intended for the treatment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension”.
This justification had not prevented Internet users from giving it their all on social networks, some of them evoking in particular the memory of the military “dicta-hard”, with generals in power from 1964 to 1985. “With these pills, the army will be able to give a damn about democracy even more,” the satirical site Sensacionalista quipped.