Words matter!

©FSRH J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2010: 36(2) Background What have the Royal Society of Health – 350 years old this year – the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care and the Department of Health’s (DH) new campaign, ‘Sex. Worth Talking About’, got in common? The Royal Society was set up to assist and promote the accumulation of knowledge, promote clarity of expression, and develop scientific publishing and peer review. The DH’s campaign is about promoting more open and honest discussion about sex, relationships and contraception among young people. The Journal aims to improve reproductive health and sexual health nationally and internationally through published peer-reviewed research and information. What they have in common is the desire to inform through communication and this involves language. To communicate effectively we need to use understandable words and terms that enable and inform. In 2004, I wrote about the need to improve how we communicate and talk about sexual health1 because I believed then, and still believe today, that we do this badly and we have a responsibility to do it better.

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