Under the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global manual of diagnoses, transgender health issues will no longer be categorised under disorders.
In a report by the BBC, a World Health Organization expert stated that being a transgender is not a mental health condition. The human rights organisation Human Rights Watch also added that this change in language will provide a “liberating effect” across nations.
Dr Lale Say, a reproductive health expert at the World Health Organization, said: “It was taken out from mental health disorders because we had a better understanding that this was not actually a mental health condition, and leaving it there was causing stigma.
“So in order to reduce the stigma, while also ensuring access to necessary health interventions, this was placed in a different chapter.”
Graeme Reid, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights director at campaign group Human Rights Watch, also added: “Governments should swiftly reform national medical systems and laws that require this now officially outdated diagnosis.”
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