Largest ever sexual medicine conference in South Asia to be held in Colombo

Dr. Ajith Malalasekera, Dr. Iyanthi Abeyewickreme, Dr. Lasantha Malavige, Dr. Samanthi de Silva, Dr. Pramilla Senanayake and Dr. Chandima Jeeawandara - Pic by Upul Abayasekara

By Shannon Jayawardena

The third biennial meeting of the South Asian Society for Sexual Medicine will be held from 19-21 November at the BMICH, setting a platform of information enhancing knowledge on sexual medicine and awareness. 

“A lot of people suffer in silence. If you look at the suffering, it’s like the tip of the iceberg, you only see the most problematic ones whereas most social problems are derived from sexual issues,” said Dr. Lasantha Malavige, the President elect of SASSM. “The whole idea of the conference is to educate doctors and help improve their skills in managing sexual problems,” he added.

Sri Lanka, being a country which is still developing, lacks knowledge in taking a holistic approach towards sexual issues whereby the crucial issues are the inability of clients to vocalise their problems due to a stigma of embarrassment as well as service providers being inadequately trained in the field of sexual medicine. Therefore the sole purpose of the event is to “educate the doctors to give better treatment to the patients on sexual medicine as well as to enhance knowledge on sexual medicine,” said Conference Subcommittee Chair Dr. Chandima Jeewandara. 

At present there are 114 million acts of intercourse happening around the world per day, whereby 910,000 conceptions take place out of which 390,000 of them are live births. Hence it is salient for both medical personalities as well the general public to have a better understanding on the subject of sexual health.

“There is very minimal information out there for our patients, especially in the native languages, also the opportunity for training and professional development of doctors to tackle this type of patients is minimal,” stated the Scientific Chair of the Conference Dr. Ajith Malalasekera while addressing the issue. 

The consequences of sexual problems can impact physical and mental wellbeing but is not being given the right regard or priority by the majority of society. 

Considering these facts, SASSM, through its biennial meeting, is providing an opportunity with the right and cardinal knowledge to gain a better understanding as well as vital knowledge on sexual medicine and sexual-related issues.

The Family Planning Association being the key sponsor of this prestigious event also added that “sexual health is paramount to family health and wellbeing and is an inextricable component of health and wellbeing.”