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WAS : World Association for Sexual Health
  
   
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
CLOSING CEREMONY OF THE XVII WORLD CONGRESS OF SEXOLOGY

To the Participants of the XVII World Congress of Sexology:

Two days ago I had the honor to be elected President of the newly named World Association for Sexual Health (WAS). The World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) was born in 1978 out of the conviction that sexology had to offer essential elements to increase the level of quality of life of all people. The WAS (our dear World Association for Sexual Health) gathered and fortified the efforts of professionals throughout the world working in, and developing, the field of sexology. The realization that Sexual Health is the common goal that unites us was the main reason for a change in our name.


I want to express my appreciation to the team that was lead by Marc Ganem for all the work that has set up the field for fertile work in the future.

I have accepted this responsibility both with certainty and passion because I believe that working for a sexually healthier world will benefit humanity. I believe that all of us in our everyday endeavors have contributed to the goal of promoting sexual health for all. Sexual health is not a goal for clinicians only. Sexual health is the crystallization of our common goal. Sexuality Education has the objective to facilitate sexually healthy lives of those who are being educated. Interventions in Clinical Sexology have the goal of restoring sexual health. Sex Research, although objectively driven, has as its justification the creation of knowledge that supports others to attain and maintain sexual health.


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In the last 5 years, the WAS advisory committee has developed a Strategic Plan of Action. My duty as President of the Association will be to coordinate efforts of all members of WAS who want to participate with their time and expertise to implement actions to achieve to goals of the Strategic Plan. This plan calls for five lines of action:

1.- Institutional Building

2.- Advocacy

3.- Dissemination of Knowledge

4.- Developing and Strengthening the field of Sexology and,

5.- Networking

The new Advisory Committee is a powerful group of people. With 17 countries represented, we have a strong representation and balance of continents, countries, professional background and gender. I feel we can organize a powerful team to make significant advancements in the fulfillment of the WAS mission: "The World Association for Sexual Health promotes sexual health throughout the lifespan and throughout the world by developing, promoting and supporting sexology and sexual rights for all. WAS

accomplishes this by advocacy actions, networking, facilitating the exchange of information, ideas and experiences, and advancing scientifically-based

sexuality research, sexuality education and clinical sexology, with a trans-disciplinary approach . "


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The new Executive Committee with Dr. Rosemary Coates (Australia), Vice-president; Dr. Beverly Whipple (United States of America), Secretary General/Treasurer; Dr. Antonio Pacheco Palha (Portugal), Regional Secretary for Europe; M.P.H. Uwemedimo Uko Esiet (Nigeria), Regional Secretary for Africa; Dr. Emil Man-lun Ng (China), Regional Secretary for Asia and Oceania and M.S. Monica Rodriguez (United States of America), Regional Secretary for the Americas-have the skills to coordinate and execute our efforts.

We will devote energy to each of the five strategic lines of action. We are stronger than before, but we are not strong enough. Therefore a substantial amount of work will be devoted to the institutionalization of our activities.

We have been effective in advocating for sexual health and sexual rights. The Montreal Declaration "Sexual Health for the Millennium" of this 17th World Congress of Sexology, Montreal 2005 is good example of this. But we need to increase our visibility in order to be more effective in our role as the leading organization promoting sexual health throughout the world.

We have contributed to the dissemination of knowledge, as this 17 th World Congress demonstrates. But we need to reach wider audiences and make sexual knowledge available to all.

We have fortified the field of sexology. However, the recognition of the profession, and the development of standards for all branches of sexology including, clinical sexology, educational sexology and sexological research, still need further effort.


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We have a great world-wide Association, alive and vibrant. But we need to strengthen the links between and within the membership, as well as to increase our scope of membership, since many organizations and individuals working for sexual health still need to be invited and integrated into the WAS.

We need to thank the WAS members that have placed their confidence in this team and upon myself to advance in our goals.

I also need to express my appreciation for the wonderful framework that this XVII World Congress of Sexology has given us to launch this renewed effort. In particular, I thank the President of the Congress Dr. Pierre Assalian and the Canadian Organizing Committee for the success of this meeting.

We have issued a call for action with the Montreal Declaration "Sexual Health for the Millennium." The call for action is for all of us. We need to transform what could easily be perceived as our weakness, into our strength. We are a diverse organization. Our diversity creates challenges in our mutual communication and understanding. We should recognize our mutual goal. We must recognize Sexual Health as the common goal for all despite our diverse origins, ethnicities, languages, professional backgrounds and differences in our gender and sexual orientations. Let's strive for UNITY IN DIVERSITY to attain a SEXUALLY HEALTHIER WORLD.

Eusebio Rubio-Aurioles, M.D., Ph.D.
President
World Association for Sexual Health (formerly World Association for Sexual Health)

Montreal , Canada July 15 th , 2005


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