Celebrating Sexual Health

This September, we have good reason to cheer and celebrate! The third annual World Sexual Health Day is celebrated on September 4th across many countries worldwide under the aegis of the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS), a worldwide group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that promotes sexual health and sexual rights for all without discrimination or prejudice. The theme for 2012, “In a diverse world, sexual health for all,”  encompasses, in its broad sweep, people of all ages, interests, needs and abilities.

Shifting the Focus to Sexual Health

Sexual health is a concept that represents a real break from my past. As I am fond of pointing out in my lectures and my classes, I am the son of a urologist who was very concerned with sexually transmitted diseases in his medical practice. I grew up in the 1950s and early 60s, when sex was not the topic of polite conversation and certainly not a subject that dads and sons discussed regularly. However, when I reached the age when boys were expected to sew wild oats, my dad did more than just struggle through the obligatory birds-and-bees conversation.

He told me about his work.

Turning the Tide on HIV

Reports of dramatic decline in sexual risks among black youth is certainly news that brings cheer and deserves universal appreciation. The advances made by a community that has been disproportionately affected by the scourge of HIV/AIDS are certainly encouraging. The data covering 1991 to 2011 was presented by Dr Laura Kann, Ph.D., Chief, Surveillance and Evaluation Research Branch, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the XIX International AIDS Conference held on July 25, 2012, at Washington, D.C.

Sex and the (Elder) City

Recently, 74-year-old icon Jane Fonda stirred up the imagination of her ardent admirers as she admitted in an interview that she ‘never had such a fulfilling sex life’ as she has now. Looking through the hourglass of time, this statement by the twice Academy award winning American actress challenges established myths and demolishes preconceived notions about indulgence in sex by seniors.

June 27th is National HIV Testing Day

Picture yourself reading newspaper articles and reports in the early 1980s about the discovery of AIDS - a term used for the first time to describe sudden cases of sarcoma or pneumonia infection in healthy people. AIDS was a tragedy of unknown proportions unfolding in all parts of the world, baffling the medical community and its innocent victims.