Shyam Lamsal, Mary McClymont Award holder Nepal

The World Association of Sexology, in partnership with the Swedish Association for Sexology (SFS), supported by the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU) and the national sexology associations of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland and Norway, organized the 19th WAS world congress at Gothenburg, Sweden – June 21-25, Sweden.The conference theme, Sexual Health & Rights: A Global Challenge, reflected the 8 priorities of the WAS Declaration for the Millennium and echoed the urgent need for action to ensure sexual health and rights for all. The WAS Congress is held every two years, and brings together the outstanding clinicians, researchers, educators, activists and policy makers from around the globe to share knowledge on the diverse and often controversial issues of contemporary sexual health.

Sweden has always played a pioneering role in promoting sexual education, health and equality. Furthermore, a grant from the Swedish Government enabled participants to attend from many developing countries like Nepal, where the AIDS crisis severely impacts sexual health, and where basic sexual rights in areas such as education, healthcare and individual choice are largely unrecognized.

The programme of the 19th WAS World Congress for Sexual Health aimed to:

• Provide a forum for the presentation of high quality, original scientific research and clinical practice.
• Promote the exchange of clinical, practical and scientific information and ideas
• Create greater understanding of the complex interactions which characterize human sexuality.
• Allow delegates to keep up to date with industry research and developments
• Give delegates the opportunity to network with colleagues

SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME
The scientific programme was designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of medical experts working across the full range of sub specialties in the field of sexual health. Dialogue was fostered through a range of formats – plenary sessions from invited international speakers from a wide range of disciplines, interactive workshops, case round table discussions, oral and poster sessions and industry symposia.

With “Sexual Health & Rights: A Global Challenge” as its theme, the Scientific Committee of the 19th WAS World Congress for Sexual Health welcomed contributions from the various disciplines such as:

– Sexuality Education- Sexological Research:
– Basic research
– Behavioral
– Clinical
– Educational
– Socio-Cultural- Sexual Counseling- Sexual Psychotherapy- Sexual Medicine:
– Medicine
– Surgery – Sexological Anthropology- Sexological Sociology

The scientific programme of the Congress  addressed a number of topics at the forefront of knowledge and interest for those involved in the promotion of Sexual Health. The following list represented the Organizing Committees’ special areas of interest:
• The right to choose one’s sexual partners
• The right to choose who one marries and when
• The right to decide if and when to have children
• Genital mutilations
• The dynamics of attracting partners around the world
• The history of human sexuality
• The history of sexual science
• The history of sexual legislation
• Partner-related violence
• Rape
• Child sex abuse
• Sexual legislation and sexual rights in different countries
• Sexual enslavement
• Socio-cultural aspects of sexual concerns dysfunctions and disorders
• The world of paraphilias
• Sex and the internet
• Educating men and boys
• Supporting parents
• Educating sexual health professionals
• New models of sexuality education implementation
• Research on the effectiveness of sexuality education
• The controversy of abstinence oriented sexuality education
• Sexual habilitation and rehabilitation
• Psychotherapy of sexual dysfunction
• Combination strategies in psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy
• Sexology for family physicians
• Sexology for obstetricians, gynecologists and midwives
• Sexology for nurses, other health professionals and teachers
• GLBT issues
• Transgender issues
• Clinical assessment of patients with sexual dysfunction
• New pharmacological principles in the treatment of sexual dysfunction and disorders
• New perspectives in the treatment of problems of sexual desire.
• Treatment of female sexual dysfunction and disorders
• Female genital pain and dyspareunia
• New developments for treatment of premature ejaculation
• What is new in erectile dysfunction treatment?
• Political issues of HIV and STIs
• Behavioral issues of HIV and STIs
• Medical issues of HIV and STIs
• Current perspectives in AIDS treatment
• Public health issues on sexual health
• New traits in genetic sexology
• Environmental sexology

• The sexual life of the cancer patient
• Neurosexology
• Iatrogenic sexual dysfunction
• Cardiologic sexology
• Sexology of depression
• Hormones and sexuality
• Female orgasm and orgasmic dysfucntions
• Pheromones and sexuality
• The use of PET and fMRI in sexological research
• Sex and love in the brain
• The psychology of sex and love in the light of fMRI
• Passionate love and jealousy
• Maternal love
• Shakespeare and the nature of love
• Human sexuality and the arts
• Human sexuality and the literature
• Human sexuality and music
Social Events Calendar

Sunday, June 21
Opening Ceremony
Welcome by the President, WAS Advisory Committee members and other prominent leaders in the field.
Eusebio Rubio-Aurioles, M.D. Ph.D.
President
World Association for Sexual Health
Lars-Gösta Dahlöf
President of the 19th WAS World Congress

I presented my research study “Sexual Behaviors and Drug abuse among the Street Children”, at the 19th was world congress.

It was a great event for me in my life, as I learned a lot about the various aspects of sexual health and the European society through this first ever visit to Europe in my life.I am really thankful to the ICCHNR for granting me the domestic travel support through the Mary McClymont Fund.

My special thanks go to Prof. Sally Kendall for her kind cooperation to achieve the grant.

Abstract of My Research Study:

SEXUAL BEHAVIOURS AND DRUG ABUSE AMONG THE STREET CHILDREN

The present study was carried out in the markets of two sectors and a resettlement colony of Chandigarh (U.T.), Northern India, during the month of January and February , to describe the health profile of the street children.

Among the 100 conveniently chosen street children, 74 were Indians and 26 were Nepalese.

Ninety-one children were Hindu, 80 were above 12 years of age with the mean age and SD 14.74±2.77, 72 had some education, 54 children at present worked as hawkers and servants at shops and 69 had a daily income between Rs. 30-90.

Forty-two subjects had sexual exposure at various age with either girlfriend or prostitute in which two subjects were homosexual. Seventy subjects were substance/s abusers, which included 49 alcohol abusers, 48 smokers, 42 tobacco chewers, 3 injectable drug abusers and 51 various other types of substance/s abusers. Majority of the children were uncertain about the amount and frequency of the substance/s they abuse except the tobacco chewers where majority i.e. 28 chew one or two packets of tobacco per week.

It is recommended to establish “condom corners and “street children help line” and “de-addiction centre” in the city and urban slum areas and undertake action research on their health.

Thank you.

Submitted By:

Shyam Lamsal, M.Sc., R.N.Assistant Professor

Department of Community Health Nursing

B.P.Koirala Institute of Health Sciences

Dharan, Nepal