New European guidelines on sexuality education: experts say sexuality education should start from birth
Madrid, 20 October 2010
The first detailed European guidelines to help public health decision-makers develop appropriate curricula for sexuality education have been issued.
The WHO Regional Office for Europe released the guidelines today at a WHO European meeting on challenges in improving sexual health, which takes place in Madrid, Spain under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Social Policy. The guidelines were developed by a group of 20 experts from 9 European countries under the guidance of the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZgA) in Cologne, Germany and the WHO Regional Office for Europe. They provide step-by-step instructions and a detailed matrix to support health and education professionals in their efforts to guarantee children accurate and sensitively presented information about sexuality.
Dr Gunta Lazdane, Regional Adviser on Sexual and Reproductive Health at the Regional Office, who coordinated the development of the document, says: “The special feature of the new guidelines, above and beyond the topic, is that they stress that sexuality education should start from a child’s birth. They also indicate which specific skills children and young people should acquire, and which attitudes should be promoted at specific age periods.”
Typically, current sexual education curricula place heavy emphasis on biological aspects. “This is not enough. What we need is a new approach to sexuality education. This is what new guidelines are all about. They place facts in the broader context of values, knowledge and life skills and so forth, so that the health-related aspects can be understood in the broadest terms,” adds Dr Lazdane.
The new guidelines are based on a positive interpretation of sexuality, as a part of physical and mental health. Such topics as HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies and sexual violence are embedded in all-embracing education that focuses on the individual’s self-determination and people’s responsibility for themselves and others.
One-sided orientation and the poor quality of sexuality education are often blamed for growing challenges in sexual health, such as increasing pregnancy among teenagers, rising rates of sexually transmitted infections and sexual violence. Helping to improve sexual health in general is a major goal of the guidelines.
The guidelines are also intended as a reaction to many challenges arising from the wide differences among European countries in the quality of sexuality education in schools. At present, a third of the countries in the WHO European Region do not have any school-based sexuality education curriculum. In some countries, sexuality education begins as late as 14–18 years of age.
An important note from the authors is that the guidelines only set targets for what should be done, which is just the beginning of the process. “The next step is to develop the methodology,” says Dr Lazdane.
For more information, contact:
Dr Gunta Lazdane
Regional Adviser, Sexual and Reproductive Health
WHO Regional Office for Europe
Scherfigsvej 8
2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Tel.: +45 39 17 14 26
E-mail: gla@euro.who.int
Ms Liuba Negru
Communications Officer
WHO Regional Office for Europe
Scherfigsvej 8
2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Tel: +45 39 17 13 44, +45 20 45 92 74 (mobile)
E-mail: LNE@euro.who.int
