The American Sexual Health Association strongly supports the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to empower women and their healthcare providers by approving Flibanserin, the first drug to treat low sexual desire in females.
Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD, also known as low sexual desire) is the most commonly reported type of sexual dysfunction in women. Until today’s FDA decision there were no medical treatments available for the condition, leaving many women and medical professionals frustrated and puzzled at the lack of options. Speaking on the impact HSDD, Deborah Arrindell says “What I’ve heard from women is despair, anxiety, loss of confidence, loss of self worth, troubled relationships, and families in crisis. Women deserve to have desire, arousal, even pleasure. Clearly the FDA heard these women and today’s decision provides long overdue relief.”
That’s not to say that Flibanserin is a proverbial magic pill. ASHA CEO Lynn Barclay believes it’s really about choices: “There is seldom a one-size-fits-all answer to the many challenges real people face in achieving and maintaining sexual health and satisfying sex lives. We believe BOTH men and women as well as their healthcare providers should have choices in addressing sexual dysfunction. We also believe that women—and men—can be trusted to decide for themselves about using an FDA-approved and health care provider-prescribed treatment option.”
Barclay adds that sexual health should not be seen as separate from our overall health, as each impacts the other. She says “This is about a woman’s wellbeing, her quality of life.” She notes that a woman’s sexual health affects her partner, too. “You’ve heard the saying “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”? Well, as grammatically imperfect as that may be, it makes a good point. Let’s make sure mamas, aunts, sisters, and women just like me everywhere have a complete menu of choices. We deserve it, we are worth it, and in the end we’ll all be better for it.”