Sex education survey: Urgent need for awareness and curriculum reform Sex education survey: Urgent need for awareness and curriculum reform Content Editor: Dr. Urmimala April 15, 2024 Insight IIT-Bombay Sexual Education, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Knowledge-Attitude-Practice The issue of sex education begins with the results of a survey conducted on the college campus in January 2024. The survey found that 36% of undergraduates and 58.4% of postgraduates have engaged in some form of sexual activity. Close to 25% of sexually active respondents, do not use any form of contraception. Around 39% of 1063 respondents did not have any knowledge about the cause, prevention, or treatment of sexually transmitted infections. In contrast, 495 of them knew to some extent. An important finding was that 76.1% of all the respondents felt the need for formal sex education in the college curriculum. Addressing the results of the survey, the issue informs its readers about contraception, consent, and sexual violence as well. Click here to read more.

WHO Prequalifies Additional HPV test, Expanding Options as Countries Pursue Cervical Cancer Elimination WHO Prequalifies Additional HPV test, Expanding Options as Countries Pursue Cervical Cancer Elimination Content Editor: Dr Ashwini Priyadarshini Singh June 29, 2023 WHO News Public health, WHO, Cancer screening, HPV The World Health Organization (WHO) has included a fourth test for human papillomavirus (HPV) in its list of prequalified tests. It highlights the importance of HPV testing as a crucial component of cervical cancer screening. The WHO's prequalification program evaluates the performance of various tests used for HPV detection. The inclusion of Roche Molecular Systems Inc.'s cobas HPV assay expands the range of high-performance tests available to countries, supporting their efforts to improve screening coverage and quality. This step aligns with WHO's commitment to eliminate cervical cancer through strategic targets, including vaccination, screening, and treatment of pre-cancer and invasive cancer cases. HPV tests offer better performance than alternative methods – such as pap smear and visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and provide opportunities for self-sampling, reducing barriers to testing. Incorporating HPV testing into existing laboratory systems further facilitates public health programs and helps achieve screening targets.

WHO's newest initiative- WHO civil society commission WHO's newest initiative- WHO civil society commission Content Editor: Dr Sumana Mukhopadhyay September 11, 2023 WHO News Section Global Health, World Health Organization, International health In Geneva, the WHO unveiled the WHO Civil Society Commission and convened its first Steering Committee gathering. This marks a significant step towards systemic collaboration between civil society and WHO on crucial health concerns. The Commission's primary aim is to: Strengthen conversations and partnerships with WHO and among civil society groups. Offer expert suggestions to assist WHO in championing universal health coverage and the SDGs . Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, emphasized the importance of listening to community voices. The Steering Committee is composed of 22 diverse civil society organizations. The functions of this committee are to: Provide guidance Develop key outputs Convey civil society's advice to the WHO Create a WHO civil society engagement strategy With over 350 organizations expressing interest in joining the Commission, 120 have been initially accepted. The Committee’s co-chairs invite global civil society organizations to actively get involved with the WHO CSO Commission in advancing vital health concerns.