What is Sexual & Reproductive Health?
“Sexual and reproductive health [SRH] includes the right to healthy and respectful relationships, inclusive, safe and appropriate services, access to accurate information, and effective and affordable methods of family planning and fertility regulation”
Department of Health and Human Services, 2017
SRH is a growing issue as indicated by the emerging health literature which emphasises the importance of the work that WHISE and many other organisations are undertaking in this space.
The Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2023-2027 includes SRH as one of the 10 priority areas. It is acknowledged as being important across the life course and involving “gender equality, respect, safety and freedom from discrimination, violence and stigma."
Victorian Public Health & Wellbeing Plan 2023-2027 Aims
- Support Victorians to access culturally safe sexual and reproductive health services that are free from stigma, racism, and discrimination.
- Strengthen the sexual and reproductive health of Victorian women, girls, and gender diverse people across the life course, with a focus on areas such as menstrual health, contraception, abortion and assisted reproductive treatment.
- Eliminate hepatitis B and hepatitis C as a public health concern by 2030, eliminate congenital syphilis by 2030 and the virtual elimination of new HIV transmissions by 2025.
- Support Victorians to achieve optimal sexual and reproductive health and reduce the transmission and impact of BBV and STI.
- Ensure health professionals have the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to deliver culturally safe, non-stigmatising, non-judgemental best-practice sexual and reproductive health and viral hepatitis prevention, testing, treatment, and care.
- Improve sexual and reproductive health and viral hepatitis services and outcomes by increasing the quality and completeness of data and research.
The plan further states that work to support a life-course approach for girls and women will drive better sexual and reproductive outcomes. This includes normalising health-seeking behaviours, such as participation in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical screening programs. Normalisation will ensure prevention and early diagnoses of diseases such as cervical cancer. This is crucial for timely treatment of blood-borne viruses (BBV) and sexually transmissible infections (STI) to reduce negative impacts on health and wellbeing. For example, a delayed diagnosis of STI can lead to long-term health issues and affect fertility and reproductive health.
WHISE recognises that targeted actions and collaborations will contribute to more equitable health outcomes. For example, the burden of BBV and STI varies markedly across population groups and geographical areas across the SMR (evident by the data presented below).
Addressing disparity of access to services by empowering the community through education, resources, awareness raising, and practical skill building, will contribute to more equitable, SRH outcomes, and wellbeing.
