Access to sexual health information in Iran

Health professionals need access to relevant, reliable sexual health information to prevent and control sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS. Until recently, access to such information has been difficult in Iran. Thanks to the Internet, the situation is starting to improve.

Iran has one of the best family planning programmes in the developing world, with services freely available to all. But sexual health is given less priority. STDs are mainly treated rather than prevented, HIV prevention programmes are very conservative, and the mass media does not provide frank and direct information.

Healthcare providers in Iran have four main sources of information.

1. National publications: The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Family Planning Association publish materials for health care professionals, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). These materials are published in Iran, in Farsi, but they are poorly distributed and their content is often not adjusted to the level of knowledge of its many different readers (e.g. health workers, nurses, general practitioners, specialists).

2. International publications: Medical libraries in Iran have limited access to journals, mostly because of high costs but also because of a US embargo which affects sales of full-text electronic journal packages to Iranian institutions^*. When a health professional orders a book, CD, or video from abroad, they are inspected by customs and may be confiscated or destroyed if they have a picture of nudity, which is not unusual in sexual health packages^*. However, governmental organisations and UN agencies have a license to import such materials.

3. Conferences and workshops: Health professionals in Iran are discouraged from attending international conferences for two reasons: visas and funding. Both are increasingly difficult.

4. The Internet is becoming the main source of information for Iranian health professionals. Internet users in Iran have increased from 250,000 in 2000 to over 4 million in 2004 (total population 67 million)^*. Despite government attempts to block websites^*, there are still many sites that provide quality information on reproductive and sexual health. But online materials are mostly in English and many are unreliable. This can lead to misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and incorrect healthcare practice.

The challenge for the future is to develop Farsi websites on reproductive and sexual health and to train health professionals in Iran to find quality material on the web, and to peer-review, update and customise training materials.
 

^*References available on request

Pejman Azarmina and Sara Nasserdezeh
University College London, UK