Како побољшати сексуално и репродуктивно здравље младих у Србији
How to improve sexual and reproductive health of youth in Serbia

Author(s): Katarina Sedlecki
Subject(s): Family and social welfare, Socio-Economic Research, Sociology of Education, Pedagogy
Published by: Институт друштвених наука
Keywords: youth reproductive health; youth sexual behaviour; education on the preservation of reproductive health; youth-friendly counselling centres
Summary/Abstract: Youth sexual and reproductive health care requires a comprehensive approach and intersectoral cooperation, since it is necessary to achieve several goals, primarily to help adolescents to achieve normal sexual development and maturity, develop healthy sexuality and to prepare them for partner relationships based on equality, good communication and shared responsibilities, as well as to motivate them to act preventively and thus preserve their health and fertility. The most important courses of social action are in the areas of education and health care. The education of young people on the safe sexual behaviour and the preservation of reproductive health starts at birth, involving parents, teachers, peers, the media, including the Internet and social networks. Parents are considered the most important primary educators of children; however, in Serbia, they often have a passive attitude towards both their sexuality and the care for their reproductive health. The most important is to devise a systemic solution to this issue by introducing appropriate educational contents into primary and secondary school curricula. There is no mandatory form of youth awareness raising in the field of reproductive health in Serbia, although the meta-analysis of the results of 83 studies confirmed the positive impact of the implementation of the sexuality education programme in schools on the sexual behaviour of young people. It is also necessary to tailor health care services to the needs of young people through the development of appropriate counselling centres, in which they will receive the necessary information, advice and assistance to develop satisfactory sexuality and preserve their reproductive health. In Serbia, youth-friendly reproductive health counselling centres have been established in about one in four municipalities. The counselling centres work according to a model that is based on a multidisciplinary approach and active participation of young people. The counselling centres, however, are not appropriately supported within the health system reform. The introduction of the concept of selected physicians, the prioritisation of curative over preventive medicine, the progressive decrease of the number of paediatricians and gynaecologists in primary health care, and the inability to maintain a record of the health services provided to young people in the counselling centres have challenged not only the further development of youth counselling centres but also their survival. Successful youth sexual and reproductive health care programmes should be comprehensive and long-term supportive of the individual and broader social agenda. The most important are economic support measures, creating a safe environment and facilitating education, intervention directed at parents, extended family, partners and peers, programmes for youth at the local community level, education of young men with a view to reducing gender-based disparities, as well as the adoption and implementation of laws that support the sexual and reproductive health and the pertinent rights of youth, media campaigns and broadband communication programmes. Such programmes are expected to eliminate the barriers to both safer sexual behaviour and the health and fertility care of young people.

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