ABSTRACT
The seeming contradictions of Indian attitudes towards sexual health can be best explained through the context of history. India played a significant role in the history of sex, from writing the famous literature on sex and sexuality that treated sexual intercourse as a science. India’s initiation to sexual health messages may have started with the colonial concerns syphilis and gonorrhea amongst its armed forces. Post-independence in 1947, India embarked on the ambitious population control programme, which focused solely on the individual’s sexual practices and behaviours. The programme covered an extended range of services for unwanted fertility, maternal health, Reproductive Tract Infection/Sexually Transmitted Infection, child health and adolescent health. The National Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Programme was initiated in 1946 and remained operational until 1991. The arrival of the British had the largest effect on the culture of India and its attitudes towards sex and sexuality.
