Reproductive and sexual health is critical to a happy and fulfilling life. Improving it contributes to lower health costs, reduces disease levels, eliminates inequalities, and provides more opportunities for people (“Reproductive and sexual health,” 2020). If problems are ignored, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) spread, infertility, or fetal health problems occur. Despite the importance of taking care of this aspect of health, some groups of the population suffer from its lack more than the rest.
Societies may accept gender and sexual diversity in various ways. Somewhere, representatives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community are treated better, and somewhere, on the contrary, the attitude can be quite cruel. Feeling discriminated and stigmatized, LGBTI people do not receive the necessary support for their health and experience difficulties receiving treatment. Moreover, bias against LGBTI also negatively affects people’s mental health. At the same time, sexual health involves not only physical but also emotional, mental, and social well-being (“Sexual Health,” 2019). A person’s gender and sexual expression depend on several factors – biological sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation (Pepper, 2019). Society should understand that they can be determined independently of each other and are not required to comply with heteronormative rules (Pepper, 2019). Health and self-expression are inalienable human rights, and therefore the issue needs attention.
Employees of medical organizations, in particular nurses, have a responsibility to the LGBTI community to promote health and non-discrimination. Besides providing information to society on disease prevention and health maintenance, it is also essential to develop personal communication skills and cultural competence. It is necessary to create conditions in which LGBTI people will not feel uncomfortable communicating with hospital staff and will not be afraid to seek help. Thus, there are obstacles to promoting sexual and reproductive health among LGBTI people, and they must be overcome to improve the nation’s health.
References
Pepper, M. S. (2019). Attitudes to gender and sexual diversity: Changing global trends.The Conversation.
Reproductive and sexual health. (2020). Healthy People.gov.
Sexual health. (2019). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.