CD Congress Centre Ljubljana has successfully won a candidacy for organizing the ESSM 2019 – Congress of the European Society for Sexual Medicine. Winning over this kind of destination is a great achievement for Ljubljana and CD Congress Centre Ljubljana, which holds a key role as a central Slovene congress centre with the highest number of international congresses. The final decision and victory for Ljubljana was also a result of excellent preparation of CD Congress Centre Ljubljana, great location of Slovenia and also the vicinity of Italy, a strong congress player in this part of Europe and also country with attractive tourist offer for participants from other continents.
Head organization of sexual medicine is the International Society for Sexual Medicine – ISSM. First started as Urology Association which then spread to other areas: psychiatry, psychology, gynecology and general medicine, later in the field of neurology, dermatovenerology, oncology and internal medicine, and was renamed in ISSM, implying the European Association for sexual Medicine (ESSM). The reason for the development of the field has been the development of drugs to improve sexual function, but today the sexual medicine connects and includes also insights from the field of scientific treatment of sexuality in other disciplines. Its purpose is more comprehensive treatment of factors affecting human sexuality. Section for sexual medicine of Slovenia (Society for Sexual Medicine of Slovenia – SSMS) is part of the ESSM. This year we bid for the 19th Congress of the ESSM and we won, the European Congress of sexual medicine 2019 will be organized in Ljubljana.
2. Why did you choose CD Congress Centre Ljubljana as the location for ESSM 2019 when you bid for it?
CD is the only institution in Slovenia, which meets the requirements for hosting such a big congress and I know that we it will not disappoint us.
3. Brief presentation of the contents of professional meetings for general public
Sexual Medicine is the science that deals with the influence of psycho-physiology, intimate relationships, social and cultural factors, developmental effects, sexual orientation and diversity, gender identity and between-sex differences in sexual function. At the same time, it is interested in the sexual experiences of men and women of all ages, both individually as well as in the context of partnerships. Sexual Medicine aims to improve sexual health with prevention, diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation. Its aim is to restore or improve sexual function, sexual experience optimization and welfare of personal as well as interpersonal satisfaction in sex.
4. What are the main challenges of your profession today?
Given that I am a sex therapist, my main job (and should be of all those working in sexual medicine) in addition to treating the problems of sexuality, is education of the professional and general public. This means delivering the right information and knowledge to individuals and health care professionals about human sexuality. With the right knowledge, that we cannot gain from the media, we would reduce the number of sexual difficulties and thus improve sexual health.
5. What is the contribution of Slovenia (your department) to development of activities?
I consider myself one of the main promoters of sexual health in Slovenia. Currently I’m the only one that deals with the treatment of female sexual dysfunction according to the bio-psycho-social and cultural approach, whilst at the same time I do a clinical inspection and thereby determine the extent of the problem. I share the knowledge of sexual medicine at every opportunity to women and doctors.
6. What do you expect from ESSM congress 2019 in Ljubljana?
I expect that ESSM congress will remind everyone to the right to sexual health and remind professional public that we are all obliged to ensure the people this right. In doing so, we all need to be aware of the ethical and legal responsibilities in the sexual practice of medicine.
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