PESHAWAR, May 22: A US-based institute is conducting a comparative cross-cultural erotological study in Pakistan. Dr Muzafar Tareen of the Hayatabad Medical Complex will examine 5,000 patients during the study for the Institute of Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, San Francisco.

Dr Tareen said he had seen 2,700 patients over the past year.

He said the sexual attitude of the people in underdeveloped countries, like Pakistan, was shaped by social, cultural and religious considerations, besides myths, while in the US people were being offered free STI services by NGOs.

Lack of health education was the main factor hampering healthcare delivery system in the country, he said. The problem was exacerbated by the non-availability of sex education even in medical colleges, he said.

“As a result, even the educated class consults hakims, homeopaths and quacks for sex-related illnesses,” he said.

He said the study would help identify the factors responsible for lack of medical education in Pakistan and suggest measures for raising its level after comparing the results with the United States.

He said people facing sexual problems in Pakistan had no options because of lack of specialist doctors in the field. First they visited quacks and when the problem got acute, they consulted skin specialists or physicians, he said. Ultimately, they went into depression, he said.

Dr Tareen said people were unwilling to allow their wives to be examined by doctors. He said involvement of women in treatment could solve the problem to a great extent.

He said people also faced problems in seeking treatment and buying medicines because of poverty.

He said STI patients required prolonged sessions of psychotherapy and they should be asked socially acceptable questions while recording the history.