From clinics to classrooms: physicians play an essential role in transforming comprehensive sexuality education.

BACKGROUND

Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) equips youth with knowledge, life skills and attitudes to achieve healthy respectful relationships, and reach their optimal life and reproductive goals. This paper provides an overview of the current state of CSE globally, explores the challenges and facilitators to CSE implementation, and discusses the untapped agency of clinicians and professional medical societies in improving CSE delivery. BODY: Best practice CSE is implemented within school-based curricula taking a life-course approach (from childhood and beyond). CSE is enshrined within the right to education, health and well-being. The aspiration is for all youth to have access to CSE to reach their full potential. Great gains have been made, but there are significant economic, geographic and cultural barriers to implementation globally, leaving youth at risk for unwanted pregnancy, sexual violence, sexually transmitted infection, adversely impacting their future productivity and independence. Physicians have the potential to play a significant role in multiple domains of CSE including policy, advocacy and research. However, there is a need for physicians to develop policy skills and experience through dedicated medical education.

CONCLUSION

Leveraging health providers beyond the clinic space can deliver significant population benefits for policy and practice and can help build capacity in the next generation of providers for delivering CSE-solutions for the future.