Every year on September 4th, the world comes together to celebrate World Sexual Health Day – an initiative dedicated to promoting awareness about the importance of sexual health, sexual rights, and justice. It’s a day to remember that sexual wellbeing is a fundamental part of human health and thus it is a public and global health concern. 

Sexual health is a human right, yet around the world stigmas and barriers continue to cloud conversations that are vital to our well-being. As the WHO describes it: “Sexual Health is a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being related to sexuality; it is not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction or infirmity.” Instead of silencing people with shame and misinformation, we need to spread the knowledge and support that people need to make informed, empowered choices.  

On this day, by engaging in and encouraging discussions surrounding sexual health, we are not just protecting individual rights, but we are advocating for public health, gender equality, and human rights. In doing so, we work towards fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3): Good Health and Wellbeing for all.  

More importantly, SDG3 Target 3.7 wants us to “By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes”; further stating the importance of this day. 

This year, the theme for World Sexual Health Day is consent: the foundation of respectful relationships and bodily autonomy. By centring consent in sexual health conversations, we promote dignity and respect, and we highlight the importance of living free from violence, coercion, and harm. Lack of consent is at the root of sexual violence and abuse, which carry long-term physical and mental health impacts. That’s why World Sexual Health Day is more than a date on the calendar - it’s a call to action.  

By celebrating this day, we affirm the right to safe, consensual experiences and commit to advocacy, education, and systemic change that protects and empowers every individual. 

Highlights from Springer Nature Journals  

Access to information about sexual health is important, but stigma can make many people hesitant to ask their healthcare providers questions. Therefore, many people turn to social media to find information. A recent review in the journal Basic and Clinical Andrology explored the growing use of social media to find information about questions related to men’s sexual health. The review found that posts about men’s health topics were popular but contained a high degree of misinformation. The authors also wrote a Behind the Paper blog post further discussing their findings and suggested next steps. 

Dr Annette Fenner, Chief Editor of Nature Reviews Urology, kindly answered a few questions to celebrate this Awareness Day so that we could post a Q&A blog! Read more to learn about Dr Fenner’s journey to become Chief Editor and her thoughts and hopes surrounding the importance and future of sexual health and medicine.  

Nature Reviews Urology publishes articles surrounding Reproductive Biology, Andrology, Female urology, Infection, Fertility, Sexual psychology, Cancers of the reproductive system and much more. Pride, not prejudice is an editorial describing the importance of Pride in sexual health and states that the journal vows to empower and celebrate the value of diversity in 2025; the article discusses how unacceptable it is that the funding for diversity, equity and inclusion projects has stopped in the USA, thus threatening inclusion and understanding of diverse views in sexual health. Indeed, there are many interesting reads in the journal surrounding sexuality, gender identity, and sexual orientation: XYGO: proposing a new holistic measure of gender identity and sexual orientation; We all get erections — de-gendering sexual arousal dysfunction in the ICD; Sexual health and treatment-related sexual dysfunction in sexual and gender minorities with prostate cancer. 

There are many research papers published in Springer Nature journals focusing on women’s sexual and reproductive health: read about research on the mycobiome in the female genital tract, developing new drug delivery systems for women’s reproductive health, creating a wearable sweat biosensor to track hormones in real time, and exploring features of apps helping women on probation manage their health (and sexual health) and safety.  Many articles also call for further research surrounding women’s sexual health: read this conversation on gender bias and discrimination in the HIV response and this article demanding novel prophylactic HPV vaccines due to an increase in cervical cancer cases.  

Read about research on transgender people’s sexual health: for example, how gender affirming hormone therapy may have long-term immunological effects as well as be impacting the gut microbiota. Another article discusses the structural barriers to sexual and reproductive health care faced by Black and Latina cisgender and transgender US women who use drugs.  

Collections calling for submissions 

There are a few Journal Collections that are calling for submissions surrounding Sexual Health; click on the links below to learn about submission deadlines and more. 

The journal Basic and Clinical Andrology currently has two open collections:  

• Sexual Health, looking for articles on knowledge, attitudes, communication, healthcare use, sexual behaviour and adverse events surrounding sexual health; 

• Occupational Exposure and Male Reproduction, looking for articles exploring how environmental contaminants can be harmful for male reproduction. 

The IJIR: Your Sexual Medicine Journal has two open collections:  

• Endocrine System & Sexology, aiming to explore the impact of hormones on human sexuality; 

• Rare Sexual Disorders, looking to highlight how rare sexual disorders are a challenge that is often overlooked.  

BMC Medicine has an open collection on Mpox: Epidemiology, prevention, and treatment.

The BMC Global and Public Health journal is calling for submissions on Sexual Health Education.  

Finally, the Reproductive Health journal is publishing a supplement on The SRH Outbreak research response team within the Department of Sexual and Reproductive health. The journal is also looking for submissions on Reproductive Health Equity for Migrants, Refugees, and Internally Displaced Populations. 

Highlights from the ISRCTN Clinical Study Registry 

A trial on the ISRCT Clinical Study Registry (ISRCTN17254547), is looking at “Improving youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services through gender transformative and intersectional approaches in Nigeria”. This study is being carried out by the Health Policy Research Group (HPRG) of the University of Nigeria; a project which is particularly interested in improving the sexual and reproductive rights (SRHR) for Nigerian young people. As Ifunanya Clara Agu explains in her blog, this collaborative project wants to address the challenges that young people in Nigeria are facing that are preventing them from accessing SRHR services and are causing them to commonly experience sexual and reproductive health burden.  

Another clinical trial (ISRCTN32355507) is exploring a multi-target PCR approach for detecting nine common sexually transmitted infections (STIs), which are routinely tested via urine samples and swabs. If successful, a PCR approach could be a faster way of being tested for STIs, leading to faster treatment and potentially lower cases of undetected transmission. 

Lastly, this recently opened trial (ISRCTN99248870) is developing a program to start people on HIV treatment on the very same day of their diagnosis; this is known as same-day initiation (SDI). The treatment is antiretroviral therapy (ART), and research shows that early administration of ART can reduce illness, death, and spread of HIV. Many challenges prevent SDI being put into practice for HIV patients; thus, the study wants to create a plan to monitor how SDI is implemented and measure the outcomes of the treatment in South Africa.  

Springer Nature Research Communities 

You can find other insightful blogs related to Sexual Health by exploring our Springer Nature Research Communities website. This platform hosts a variety of articles and discussions from experts in the field; check out this blog posted last year in celebration of World Sexual Health Day 2024. Use the search function on the website to discover relevant content and stay informed about the latest developments and initiatives. 

Conclusions 

Sexual Health is a vital aspect of our wellbeing; we must continue to do research and educate ourselves to dismantle stigmas and improve the implementation of sexual health policies all around the world.  

If you want to be further involved in spreading awareness on Sexual Health and keep the conversation going, check out the World Sexual Health Day website here.  

Happy World Sexual Health Day!