HPRC Conference

29^th Annual HPRC Conference

26^th of June 2025

From Awareness to Action: Advancing Sexual Health Promotion

Arts Millennium Building, University of Galway

The public discourse around sexual health has substantially changed in Ireland, and globally, in the last decade. An affirmative view of sexual health is based on positive and respectful approaches to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence.

Promoting sexual health requires concerted efforts, including but not limited to:

• Providing comprehensive, factual and good-quality information about sex and sexuality
• Increasing awareness of safe sexual practices
• Ensuring access to equitable sexual health care
• Creating an environment that affirms and improves sexual health.

Sexual health is multi-dimensional. It encompasses sexual orientation and gender identity, sexual expression, relationships, and pleasure. While sexual relationships based on mutual consent can boost self-esteem and physical health, there can also be negative consequences, including sexually transmitted infections, unintended pregnancy, sexual dysfunction, sexual violence and harmful practices. These make sexual health one of the most important public health challenges of our time. Sex and sexualities are heavily politicized and contested; health promoters need to navigate misconceptions, shame, embarrassment, stigma, taboos, indifference and hostility.

Sexual behaviours and well-being have dramatically changed in the last three decades in Ireland and across the globe. Drivers behind these changes include the proliferation of digital technologies, increased availability of pornography, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the introduction of new medicines, such as those used for pre-exposure prophylaxis of HIV. In Ireland, same-sex partners can marry each other since 2015. The Eighth (or 8^th) Amendment of the Constitution was repealed in 2018, with accompanying legislation for abortion. Free prescription and emergency contraception is now available to women, transgender and non-binary individuals aged 17–35 under the Free Contraception Scheme. The Relationships and Sexuality Education curricula are currently being updated.

At present, important national policy and research developments are taking place in Ireland. The Government is preparing the new National Sexual Health Strategy 2025–2035. The new Strategy will set out a framework for collaboration across Government, health services and community, building on progress to date, in line with the principles of Sláintecare. It will also facilitate more research on sexual health and wellbeing, considering that almost two decades have passed since the last dedicated population survey on sexual behaviours among adults living in the Republic of Ireland.

This conference provides a unique platform for practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and international experts to present and discuss innovative, effective and sustainable approaches to promoting sexual health and wellbeing across sectors and settings, while navigating the above outlined challenges. The conference will consider how sexual health promotion can be advanced by reflecting on policy frameworks, implementation structures, processes and practice developments that are required to improve sexual health across the lifespan and equitably for diverse genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities and identities.

The 2025 Annual Health Promotion Conference will address the following objectives:

• Consider current national policy frameworks and the opportunities they create for sexual health promotion.
• Explore the practice requirements for implementing sexual health promotion across settings and sectors.
• Identify the enablers and barriers for capacity development needed to deliver sexual health promotion.
• Showcase good examples of innovative practice in sexual health promotion in Ireland and internationally.
• Summarise and review national and international evidence in sexual health and identify the evidence gaps in the Irish landscape.
• Provide an opportunity for health promotion practitioners, policymakers and researchers to engage in knowledge exchange concerning sexual health promotion.