In the past decade, there have been significant changes in the discourse of public health regarding sexual health. Recently, there has been a significant leap in the recognition of sexual health as a central component of overall health. But this has been a long journey over the last century. Our understanding of sexual health has moved slowly from a purely disease perspective to a broader perspective of what it means to be sexual healthy.
The most notable advance of the construct occurred when the World Health Organization (WHO) convened meetings and produced a technical document in 1975 which made the first attempt at defining sexual health.
The definition reads as follows:
Sexual health is the integration of the somatic, emotional, intellectual and social aspects of sexual being, in ways that are positively enriching and that enhance personality, communication and love.”
Probably the most controversial issue that has daunted the construction of that definition is pleasure. The right to pleasure as being essential to attainment of sexual health was acknowledged in the 1975 document, but not included in the definition. The concept of pleasure was finally included in the WHO 2002 working definition.
To have sexual rights that included pleasure articulated by the WHO was a significant step in the history of public health, particularly because the rights imply individual and societal responsibility.
As individuals and as healthcare practitioners we have a responsibility to:
- Create better climates for discussion of sexuality;
- Increase access to information and education about sexuality;
- Develop prevention strategies to include community-based intervention;
- Enhance access to care for sexual concerns; and
- Increase research in human sexuality and evaluation of programs designed to promote sexual health
