For the 2nd consecutive year, the month of June is dedicated to sexual health in Guadeloupe with two highlights: the national week for the promotion of sexual health (from June 3 to 9) and the Caribbean HIV testing week (from June 24). as of June 30, 2024).
The month of June opens a series of events organized by the Regional Health Agency of Guadeloupe, the university hospital center and Corevih, cregional coordination of the fight against HIV in the archipelago around sexual health.
Throughout this month, stakeholders will be mobilized, in their premises or in neighborhoods with populations but also via their social networks, to provide information on sexual health in a global manner and promote diversified prevention and screening for HIV and STI.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “sexual health is a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in matters of sexuality, it is not just the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity. Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasant and safe sexual experiences, without coercion, discrimination and violence. To achieve and maintain good sexual health, the Human Rights and Sexual Rights of all people must be respected, protected and fulfilled“.
It is therefore a global approach to sexuality which is intended to be positive and is not limited to health aspects. An approach that could allow us to talk about sexuality in complete transparency. Because in Guadeloupe, it remains a taboo, regrets Doctor Maxime Marquet, doctor at the free HIV and STI screening and diagnosis center.
The problem of taboo is something that is part of the sphere of intimacy, so it is totally normal that we have difficulty talking about it. But the fact of not talking about it, these are people who will suffer in private, who will suffer from illnesses because they will never get tested. However, there is nothing really very dangerous about sexuality in itself as long as you get tested and take care of things quickly.
For the authorities, talking about sexuality in a positive way could help eliminate the shame aspect of the equation, because “people who are ashamed don’t speak“, explains Dr. Marquet.
For the health professional, it is essential to work on the level of education and ignore preconceived ideas.
When we talk about sexuality education, parents will very quickly become afraid that talking in a positive way about sex will lead children to have unbridled sexuality. All studies have shown that the opposite is happening. This will delay, for example, the date of the first report. This helps us understand and make things important. This can make the first time important. This also allows children to have points of reference by saying to themselves “I have discussed it with my parents or with a health professional, so if I have problems, I can go see them”.
This can help prevent the silence that some victims of rape or sexual violence impose on themselves.
Caribbean HIV testing week is the other side of this month around sexual health.
These 7 days are a strong time for the department’s stakeholders to strengthen screening actions closer to the populations but also to communicate on the importance of HIV screening as a major pillar of the response against the HIV epidemic.
Indeed, the use of screening allows for early diagnosis, better care and a significant reduction in the risk of transmission.
In terms of prevention, condoms have been put forward a lot in recent years. Although it is important, it is only a means of protecting oneself. Screening is another.
For all the sexual infections that exist, there are solutions. For HIV, it’s a little more complicated, but there are still solutions that allow people who have contracted HIV to live normally but they have to take one tablet a day, like someone who would have hypertension or diabetes. And once they are treated, they no longer transmit the virus. When it comes to sexuality, there is no seriousness if you are taken care of quickly.
Fear of the result can hold back some people who do not get tested.
Doctor Maxime Marquet, doctor at the free HIV and STI screening and diagnosis center, was Julien Babel’s guest in the Grand direct on June 4, 2024, at 1 p.m. on Guadeloupe La 1ère radio:
The various actions organized this month are available on the Corevih website.
