News & Events

European Sexual Awareness Events (ESAE)
The ESAE is a key European global campaign that draws attention to sexual health problems of men and women across Europe. The event is supported by The European Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM) and concludes on 14th February (St. Valentine's Day), St Valentine's Day for many people, is a celebration of romance and is the perfect day to highlight the solutions available to those who suffer in silence, and are denied the opportunity to enjoy a rewarding sex life.

In 2003 the following countries participated in the ESAE Campaign: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the UK. The following countries also supported the campaign: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, and the Slovak Republic. Each country devised its own specific activities for the Awareness Event and sought funding on a national level as well as the support of local medical societies whose logos appeared on the visual materials (posters and fliers).

The slogan of the campaign was "There is something between your body and your emotions: your sexual health. Ask if you're in trouble". This slogan was meant to raise awareness among the population of the importance of acknowledging the problem and then telephoning to find a solution. The slogan was printed on fliers and posters in the different languages of the participating countries and these printed materials were distributed to a wide variety of places such as Police Stations, Fire Stations, prisons, companies, hospitals, chemists, GPs and the media. Events were held across Europe and included press conferences, special film festivals, fashion shows with sexuality as the theme, art exhibitions, a mobile advice unit in the street etc. The success of this first event was so encouraging that ESDA decided to repeat the event the following year.

In 2004 more than five hundred thousand fliers and thirty thousand posters, with the campaign slogan "Pick it up" were translated into the different languages and were distributed in hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, shopping centres, cinemas and theatres throughout the 14 countries involved in the campaign. The slogan and campaign poster featuring a man and a telephone receiver encouraged sufferers to pick up the phone and dial the helplines as a first step towards finding a solution.

Activities undertaken included health checks at motorway service stations, stands in shopping malls, press conferences and workshops.

In 2005 the message has focussed on the general idea of "Get help, get treatment" with a clear slogan "Get treatment" on the visual materials. This represented a logical progression from the campaigns of the previous years:

2003 - If you are in trouble ask (acknowledging the problem)
2004 - Pick it up (telephoning someone who can help)
2005 - Get help, get treatment (trying out one of the treatment options available)
These events involve a substantial amount of central planning and coordination in order to provide all ESDA local associations with strategic guidance on objectives, messages and visual material (ready for printing) in the different languages for their use locally. Media interaction is generally handled by each affiliate locally but the ESDA central office can provide general press releases which can be translated locally.