Ethical and Cultural Challenges of Reproductive Health Education

Introduction & Aim: Reproductive health is an important subfield of public health and is defined as a state of well-being in physical and mental aspects of reproduction. the case will be more important when a healthcare systems engage with the socioeconomically burdens of the issues like adolescent and, maternal health, family planning policies, sexual transmitted infections, illegal abortion and child and force marriage.Methods: this is a narrative review on the ethical and socio-cultural challenges of the reproductive health education.Findings: Sexual health education (SHE) which is the process of delivering information about the development of body, sexuality, social interactions, psychology; and safety precautions during reproductive years of life is the key point of establishing reproductive health in societies. Although there is a mutual agreement on its education but there are controversies on how to conduct it in culturally different societies.Conclusion: Since SHE is a controversial topic, there have been always numbers of challenges about it; especially in developing countries. On the other hand, the UNFPA count SHE as a right and emphasis that depriving people from this education will cause health complications. Though it seems that SHE needs to be addressed and put into discussion, but it would be necessary to consider the cultural differences in this regard,. Therefore, we first discuss the pros and cons of the SHE, then mentioning the religious and cultural sensitivities about the issue and finally propose a culturally adaptable plan for this type of education in religious countries such IRAN.

Keywords:

reproductive health , sexual health education , ethics