Sexual health framing sexual medicine: toward a more humanistic framework.

Abstract

Sexual medicine has advanced substantially through pharmacological, hormonal, and surgical innovation, enhancing the management of sexual dysfunction. Yet its clinical paradigm remains predominantly biomedical, often privileging physiological restoration over holistic well-being. This editorial argues that sexual medicine should be explicitly grounded in a sexual health framework informed by justice, rights, and pleasure. Drawing on the World Health Organization's multidimensional definition of sexual health and contemporary transdisciplinary scholarship, we propose a shift from a pathology-centered "repair model" to a patient-centered model of flourishing. Justice necessitates equitable, culturally responsive care across gender, orientation, identity, and socioeconomic contexts. Rights affirm sexuality as integral to autonomy and human dignity. Pleasure, long marginalized in clinical discourse, should be recognized as a legitimate and measurable health outcome. Integrating these principles into education, clinical metrics, and practice standards is essential for achieving comprehensive, ethically grounded sexual care aligned with contemporary public health and human rights frameworks.