Budget 2011 finally signals action on sexual health

Sexual health has finally gotten a nod from the Finance Ministry with an allocation of €200,000, one year after it was unexpectedly left out from the last Budget.

The move reawakens hope that the National Sexual Health Policy will be brought out of the incubator, where it has been gestating for 11 years.

“This is a very big first step. I can retire a happy man,” GU Clinic consultant head Philip Carabot said when contacted for his reaction.

This is the first time, after three drafts were prepared since 1999, the government is showing its commitment to rolling out the policy by allocating money towards sexual health.

“Better late than never... I would like to see how the money will be allocated because the policy has to focus on the medical and, more importantly, on the educational side of sexual health,” Dr Carabot said.

Hope is further strengthened by the Health Ministry’s commitment to give a concrete date to release the policy for public consumption by mid-November, months after promising it would be released “within weeks”.

Health Minister Joseph Cassar said when contacted: “In view of the development of a comprehensive policy on sexual health in Malta, I am confident we will work to develop and deliver strategic initiatives to address the sexual health of the population effectively.”

Sexual health, he said, was widely recognised as a concept of central importance within any healthcare system.

“The EU identifies sexual development as a concept which has a strong impact on a person’s personality, life and role in a society. I believe this... clearly illustrates that, indeed, sexual health has to be given its due importance, across the globe,” Dr Cassar said.

It is estimated it will cost €1.5 million to implement the policy’s objectives but Dr Carabot believes the initial sum is a good start to get things moving.

The funds allocated in Budget 2011 would be channelled towards a series of research exercises to establish the prevalence of disease, the behavioural patterns of different cohorts in society and the health needs of varying cultural and religious groups, the ministry said.

The money will be invested in further developing standardised surveillance of STIs, educational initiatives and training opportunities for staff to gain skills and knowledge to contribute towards sexuality education.

There would also be a comprehensive thorough exploration of sexual health services and an amalgamation of these into one purposely designated unit within Mater Dei Hospital, the ministry added.

The lack of a clear policy on the way forward has long been felt in the light of figures consistently reporting people having unprotected casual sex – 70 per cent of those who visit the GU Clinic never use a condom – and an increase in STIs.

For the past decade, Dr Carabot has been the only public health official consistently campaigning to raise awareness as youngsters continue having rampant unprotected casual sex. He has also been pushing to have a national policy that would give the country direction and he was last year disappointed to see it was withdrawn from the Budget 2010 and looked like it was destined for sterility.

But, in June, the Health Ministry had said the government had finally endorsed the policy’s contents and was working on including some proposed additions before publishing it.