The American Social Health Assocation is a trusted source of reliable information on sexual health and sexually transmitted diseases/infections.
Sexual health is about much more than body parts and infections. It’s a key part of our overall health and no wonder, since it affects our minds and bodies, families and communities, even our spirits. Sexual health touches on everything from the quality of our relationships to what goes on when we visit the medical clinic. It involves talking to our kids about safer sex, giving and getting respect from our partner, and recognizing we have a right to the sheer joy of pleasure.
Sexual health is nothing new, of course, but what’s changing is our awareness about how much it impacts individuals and society. There’s no on/off switch, either, so sex and sexuality are vital throughout our lifespan. Young or old, gay or straight, male/female/transgender. We’re all human. We’re all sexual.
Our most basic advice is:
Former Surgeon General of the United States. M. Joycelyn Elders, MD, an outspoken champion of public health and social justice, shares her thoughts on sexual health, sex ed, and more.
ASHA Board member Dr. Robert Fullilove, Associate Dean for Community and Minority Affairs, Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, reflects on how the discussion of sexual health has changed with the times.
Cornelis ‘Kees’ Rietmeijer, MD, PhD, medical director of the Denver Clinical Prevention Training Center, offers his thoughts about a national strategy for sexual health.
J. Dennis Fortenberry, MD, MS, shares his thoughts on how to understand and define the complex term "sexual health."
Becky Griesse, Adolescent Sexual Health Program Manager for NCSD, discusses school-based STD screening.
ASHA Board member Dr. Eli Coleman, Professor and Director of the Program in Human Sexuality at the University of Minnesota Medical School, discusses the link between the HIV epidemic and the way society views human sexuality.
In The Six Pillars of Sexual Health, author and human sexuality expert Dr. Logan Levkoff explains that sexual health goes far beyond the physical body and touches on politics, culture, and more.
College dorms. Prisons. South Africa. Your living room. Becca Zod, a senior at Washington University in St. Louis who has conducted research in the U.S. and abroad, discusses the way peer educators get out the sexual health message no matter where they are.
Jaclyn Fontanella, MPH, a program associate at Partnership for Prevention, where she works on projects dedicated to improving the health of adolescents and young women, compares U.S. and European approaches to sexual health.
