Respect and Responsibility

Respect and Responsibility:  A Strategy and Action Plan for improving Sexual Health was launched by the Scottish Executive in January 2005, for the first time it sets out a framework for improving sexual health in Scotland.

The strategy is firmly based on the principles of respect for self, respect for others and strong relationships. It recognises the diversity of lifestyles in the population in Scotland. The action plan seeks to improve access to information and services whilst enabling flexibility for local services to respond to local needs.

Actions are geared towards:

• Improving the quality, range and consistency, accessibility and cohesion of sexual health services
• Supporting everyone in Scotland, regardless of faith, ethnicity, gender, age or disability, to acquire and maintain the knowledge, skills and values necessary for good sexual wellbeing and thus avoid sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy
• Positively influencing cultural and social factors that impact on sexual health

To achieve these aims it sets out a range of actions for NHS Boards, local authorities, Health Scotland, Quality Improvement Scotland, Health Protection Scotland as well as for individual departments within the Executive

Download Respect and Responsibility here Respect and Responsibility  

In 2008 the Scottish Government published the Respect and Responsibility Outcomes 2008 - 2011. These outcomes are the National Guide for Sexual Health Improvement in Scotland. Download the outcomes here Outcomes 2008 -2011

To support the National Strategy the Scottish Executive provided additional funding for three years. The Executive directed that the funding should be used to improve clinical services. Each health board was asked to produce a clinical services plan to detail how the funding would be spent.

Clinical Services Plan

The Scottish Executive requires that each NHS Board produces an update report annually and also details the local progress towards the recommendations of the National Strategy.

Update report 2006

Update report 2007

Local Progress to National Recommendations 

 Local Progress to meeting the National Recommendations 2007 National Req07

NATIONAL SEXUAL HEALTH & HIV ADVISORY COMMITTEE (NSHHAC):

The National Sexual Health & HIV Advisory Committee (NSHHAC) is a Scottish Government working group chaired by Shona Robison, MSP, Minister for Public Health.

The formal remit of the NSHHAC is:-

"To provide expert advice to the Scottish Government on sexual health and HIV, acting as a forum for the development of policy in this respect and monitoring and supporting the implementation of the national sexual health strategy Respect and Responsibility (2005) and the sexual health/HIV components of related national strategies and action plans"

Membership

Members have been invited to sit on NSHHAC because of their particular expertise or role within an organisation which is relevant to the work of NSHHAC and not directly as representatives of any particular organisation.

For more information on NSHHAC go to - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/sexualhealth/advisory-committee