Sexual health and family planning. The Seventh Annual Bronfman Lecture

One striking development in family planning during the decade 1955-1965 was the emergence of 2 new effective methods the pill and the intrauterine device. The population problem was beginning to be recognized as needing mass application. To accomplish this requires motivation which was not adequate. The unstable family particularly with the father absent is a factor in reducing motivation toward social stability. Present families do not resemble the extended family of other days or other cultures where several mature adults were present in the home. Sexual identity begins at birth fostered by the attitudes toward the treatment of the infant which are dependent on the culture in which the family lives. Depersonalizing and dehumanizing conditions exist for all classes of people. The child is most susceptible to these influences. Sexualization develops differently in the sexes. Lack of early education and the erotic stimuli encountered have disturbed the adolescent development and constitute a pathologic condition in our culture. Public Health activities have concentrated too much on physical health and neglected the person who inhabits the body. Sex education as preventive medicine needs emphasizing. Faulty sex attitudes need correcting. Mental defectives should be included. Organizatons and institutions require adapting to these needs. The teaching professions are also involved in the transmission of factual knowledge but also of attitudes values and the sex-related issues of current events. The religious groups have been taking some steps in education regarding sex. Medical schools have given increased attention to dissemination of such knowledge. Medical and scientific literature have increased coverage. Responsibility of those professionally involved is emphasized and urged. To make changes in population fertility the psycho-physiological factors involved in sexual behavior and contraceptive practices must be understood.