You can still give feedback to WHO on the health of trans and gender-diverse people
Florida hears bill that would make it easier for health insurance not to offer trans care. (Panuwat Dangsungnoen/Getty)
The World Health Organization (WHO) are developing a guideline on the health of trans and gender-diverse people, and they’ve extended the deadline for providing feedback.
The Departments of Gender, Rights and Equity, Global HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections Programmes, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research are producing guidelines for those in the LGBTQ+ community, especially adults. And it’s not too late to provide your own experience.
The guidelines in the works are hoping to address health challenges that negatively impact the rights of trans and gender-diverse people in accessing fair, quality health services across the globe, which can undermine their quality of life and life expectancy.
We already know that LGBTQ+ people are at a higher rate of developing mental health issues like depression and anxiety, with 88% of trans people aged 18 to 25 having experienced suicidal thoughts, as per a study from the charity Just Like Us.
The guidelines are set to focus on five key areas. This includes the provision of gender-affirming care, health worker education and training for the provision of gender-inclusive care, provision of health care for trans and gender-diverse people who have suffered interpersonal violence, health policies that support gender-inclusive care, and the legal recognition of self-determined gender identity for adults.
The guidelines are “based on requests from some WHO Member States, with experts in transgender health and representatives from the affected communities from all WHO regions,” the website states. “The proposed guideline is guided by WHO’s vision of a world in which all people attain the highest possible level of health and well-being, leaving no one behind.”
Following the deadline, the final list of members in the Guideline Development Group will be announced, and they will begin working on the guidelines. But it could take a while for the guidelines to be released, with an expected timeline of up to two years.
The WHO has now extended the deadline for submissions until 2 February. To send your comments, email: [email protected].
For information, support and referral services for the LGBTQ+ community in the UK, visit Switchboard LGBT+ or call 0300 330 0630 between 10 am-10 pm every day.
