Philipsburg - The Commissioner of Health Hyacinth Richardson congratulated Sector Health, Social Affairs & Labour and United Nations Population Fund for having organized a two-day workshop and encouraged everyone to have two fruitful days of discussions.
The commissioner indicated that he had taken note of the topics up for discussion and believes that they are very important as it relates to matters that really need attention.
One of the tasks of the United Nations Development Fund is providing supplies and services involving reproductive health.
In has been stated that reproductive health can be identified as the freedom to have a responsible and satisfying sex life. Your reproductive health is influenced by many factors such as age, lifestyle, habits, use of medicines and exposure to chemicals in the environment. Everyone has the right to enjoy reproductive health, which is a basis for having healthy children, intimate relationships and happy families.
Besides reproductive health we also acknowledge reproductive rights. According to the World Health Organization reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so.
Reproductive rights may include some or all of the following rights: the right to control one’s reproductive functions and the right to access quality reproductive healthcare. It may also be understood to include education about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases.
The other topic to be discussed during the workshop is about contraceptive methods.
Years ago the word condom was taboo and mentioning the word was equal to swear words. Today that is all changing and the good old condom is actually becoming a life saver. There are now even condoms for women.
Condom use is often seen as the tipping point in the success of HIV/AIDS education and prevention. It has been widely proven that the use of condoms is the most effective way to reduce exposure to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among sexually active individuals.
However there are many forces out there who object the use of a condom and these objections are oftentimes based on religious or other reasons. Particularly many young people do not see the need to use a condom and they give a variety of reasons for their actions.
This disbelief can be solved through education. As a result of the increasing awareness about AIDS and STI’s, many people are changing their sexual behavior. Some are abstaining and others have started using condoms regularly. However there are huge numbers of people out there who still refuse to use a condom.
Efforts should be made to educate people and explain to them the dangers they face if they do not use a condom if they are sexually active. Condoms should be distributed freely to those who wish to use them.
