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• Male Sexual Dysfunction
• Female Sexual Dysfunction
• Treatments for erectile dysfunction
• European Sexual Awareness Events
• ESHA participating conferences
• ESHA application for membership
• News from the European Sexual Health Alliance

News from the European Sexual Health Alliance

“Listening to women's sexual concerns: a real life scenario”

The European Sexual Health Alliance is well aware of the fact that many women suffer silently as a result of undiagnosed sexual dysfunction in the same way that men do. We know this because of the calls we receive from women in our helplines in different European countries. We also know that the media have been sceptic with regard to FSD and some have expressed the opinion that modern society “invents” non-life threatening ailments in order to create new markets for drugs where they might otherwise not be needed.

In the case of male sexual dysfunction the field has developed tremendously over the last twenty years and with it have come effective treatments which have undoubtedly reduced many men’s suffering and helped bring them out of the silence that accompanies this type of health problem and back in touch with their partners and with a healthier self-image. Sexual health is important to everyone and changes throughout our lives, for most people it is a fundamental pillar in the dynamics of a couple, an expression of deep feeling and a source of pleasure transcending its reproductive function. It could also be argued that in the same way as male sexual dysfunction has been addressed in recent years women deserve no less. Their sexuality is multi faceted but we know from our helplines that the most common problems reported by female callers are lack of sexual desire, difficulty in reaching orgasm and to a much lesser degree pain during intercourse and vaginismus.

It is because we feel strongly that women’s sexual issues need to be addressed that we organized a special session at the ESSM congress in Lyon in 2009. During the session a consultation between physicians and simulated patients was staged where we explored the patient-doctor relationship with regard to female sexual medicine by simulating real life scenarios.

The session on female sexual dysfunction included:
Introduction (Irem Hattat, President of ESHA)

• Case presentations with actors
• Presentation, communication problems underlined during case studies
• Presentation Dr. John Dean
• Presentation Pedro J.Nobre
• Conclusion and take home message

Lyon Brochure
ESHA session Lyon