This year’s World Health Day theme, “Together for health. Stand with science,” is both a call to action and a warning. Health systems, policies, and education do not exist in a vacuum: they are shaped by choices about what knowledge is trusted, shared, and prioritised. At a time when misinformation spreads rapidly and public debates increasingly challenge established evidence, standing with science is no longer a neutral position. It is a necessary commitment to ensuring that health remains a right, not a matter of opinion.
This is particularly visible in the field of sexual and reproductive health. Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), recognised by the World Health Organization and UNESCO as essential to wellbeing, has become a frequent target of misinformation and ideological opposition. Despite a strong and consistent evidence base, CSE is often misrepresented as harmful or unnecessary. Yet the reality is clear: access to accurate, inclusive, and age-appropriate information is a cornerstone of health. Defending CSE, therefore, is not simply an educational choice – it is part of standing with science, and with the right to health.
Beyond the absence of disease, health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing (WHO). Comprehensive Sexuality Education is not an optional addition to curricula, but an evidence-based component of public health. It equips individuals with the knowledge and skills to understand their bodies, build respectful relationships, and make informed choices. Research consistently shows that CSE contributes to improved health literacy, safer behaviours, and greater confidence in accessing healthcare services. It also supports the ability to recognise and respond to violence, coercion, and discrimination – all of which have direct consequences for both physical and mental health.
Yet, despite this evidence, CSE remains contested. In many contexts, it is challenged not on scientific grounds, but through narratives that question its legitimacy or distort its content. These narratives often rely on misinformation, selective interpretation of data, or the rejection of established research altogether. This results in real, disastrous consequences for young people and those with already limited access to reliable information – reinforcing existing inequalities in health outcomes.
When young people lack access to reliable sexuality education, they are more likely to rely on peers or online and unreliable/non-academic sources that may provide incomplete or inaccurate information about contraception and sexually transmitted infections, increasing the risk of unintended pregnancies and untreated infections. In other cases, limited understanding of consent and healthy relationships can make it harder to recognise coercion or abuse, delaying help-seeking and support. Misinformation around sexual and reproductive health can also discourage individuals from accessing services altogether, due to fear, stigma, or mistrust.
These are not isolated issues, but systemic ones. They reflect broader dynamics about who has access to knowledge, whose knowledge is considered legitimate, and how information is regulated or restricted. In this sense, access to CSE is not only an educational matter, but a question of rights, equity, and public accountability.
Standing with science, then, means more than supporting research in principle. At a time when misinformation and ideological narratives increasingly challenge established knowledge, neutrality is not a neutral act; it requires ensuring that evidence informs the policies and education systems that shape people’s lives. In the field of sexual and reproductive health, this implies a clear commitment to Comprehensive Sexuality Education as a fundamental component of the right to health.