Cape Town - Sexuality and intimacy are closely linked to chronic illnesses, and the healthcare profession needs to wake up to this if they are to provide optimum care for patients.
This is according to Dr Prithy Ramlachan, a Newlands West family physician.
He was speaking in his capacity as president of the African Society for Sexual Medicine at the third biennial congress in Durban last week.
The congress, which ended on Sunday, saw around 400 medical professionals from Africa and Europe gathering to glean information from some of the world’s leading academics and medical professionals in sexual medicine.
Having worked in the field for 25 years, Ramlachan said his interest had been aroused when he realised the link between sexuality and intimacy with illnesses such as depression, diabetes, HIV and cancer.
“There is overwhelming evidence of this, yet it’s overlooked in the treatment of patients. Even in medical school it’s discussed in passing. It is imperative for all health-care workers to develop skills and build confidence to meet the ever-growing need for holistic care,” he said.
Over the three-day congress, all aspects of sexuality and intimacy were discussed to develop and enhance the skills, knowledge and experience in “evaluating and managing issues in sexual health”.
This was while assisting health professionals overcome their own barriers in incorporating such matters, and their treatment in the day-to-day care of their patients.
These were – as indicated by the theme of the congress – The Missing Links in Holistic Care.
Seeking and receiving medical assistance for sexual and intimacy disorders was particularly problematic for women.
During a presentation on hypersexuality, female arousal and desire disorders, Italian psychotherapist and sexologist Dr Francesca Tripodi said there were far fewer medical remedies for women than there were for men
, despite there being ample research on women’s sexual health.
“Though I’m not a fan of medication – as a psychotherapist we like to treat the mind – but if there is medication that has been scientifically proven to help women, that means more options for us to assist our patients and options are always better,” she said.
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Cape Argus