Healthcare to under-16s needs legal protection, says RCPI
HEALTHCARE WORKERS should be legally protected if they provide sexual health services to someone under 16, if the service has been deemed to be in the young person’s best interests, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has said.
In a major statement on the nation’s sexual health, published yesterday, the RCPI’s policy group on sexual health says access to family planning, STI (sexually transmitted infection) screening and treatment and other services “should not be restricted by age, gender, sexual orientation or geographical location”.
“In particular, within the younger population, there is a need to provide appropriate, accessible services to those in need.
“It must be acknowledged that the provision of STI services to young people [especially those under 16 years of age] can sometimes be challenging in the context of the current legal framework in Ireland.”
These challenges, says the statement, have a negative impact on equality of access to services. The group says any barrier to sexual and reproductive health services should be “heavily scrutinised”.
“Healthcare professionals should be entitled to the protection of the law when they provide services to a young person which, after careful assessment, they deem to be in a young person’s best interest.
“The protection . . . should be legislatively provided for in terms similar to that of UK legislation.”
The college’s sexual policy group was established last year amid concern, held by a member organisation, that there was no national sexual health strategy.
It says Government must develop such a strategy, and calls for the inclusion of sexual health as a key focus in public health policy.
Poor sexual health, it says, can have physical, psychological, social and economic consequences.
“Sex education is a life-long process but it is most essential during childhood and adolescence.
“Appropriate sex education is associated with healthier sexual behaviours and sexual outcomes in later life.”
It calls for support for parents and educators in providing sexual health education at home and in schools, “adequate education and training in sexual health” for all medical students and continued education for GPs.
“There is a need for targeted education programmes for groups known to be at risk of poor sexual health,” it says. These groups include men who have sex with men, those who have sex before the age of 17, young adults, women aged 35-55 and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
The statement says that while the focus has been on STIs “particular mention must also be made of family planning and sexual violence”.
