South African Study Gives Insights Into Sexual Health Needs Of People With Disabilities

FEW people relish the prospect of using sexual and reproductive health services. Such encounters can be a bit awkward at best and – at worst – uncomfortable enough to discourage anyone from doing what’s needed to maintain their health and wellbeing.

Buying condoms, asking a doctor about contraceptive options, having infections checked out, discussing bleeding or not bleeding, erections or their absence, are difficult for most people.

This is why sexual and reproductive health services need to be organised with the service user’s emotional comfort in mind. Doctors and nurses, the atmosphere in clinics, and even the physical layout of family planning centres should enable people to move past the cringe and do what’s necessary for their health.

But some prospective service users are deterred from help-seeking, rather than catered for. When service providers have poor attitudes or aren’t familiar with the circumstances of patients, buildings are inaccessible and health