Essex Sexual Health Service is supporting Sexual Health Week 2026 (Monday 14 to Sunday 20 September) by encouraging people across Essex to connect, communicate and feel more confident talking about sexual health and relationships.
This year’s national theme, ‘Let’s Connect’, explores the importance of meaningful human connection, from our relationships with others to understanding our own bodies, emotions and needs.
To mark the week, Essex Sexual Health Service has launched a new sexual health eLearning platform, providing an accessible and free way for professionals across Essex, including those working with young people and those in public facing roles where sexual health and relationships may be discussed to build their knowledge and confidence around all things Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE).
The platform will offer a range of courses made up of short, accessible modules. The first course, ‘Sex, Consent and Confidentiality’, will be available for users to access from September.
A new course will then be released each month. Future courses will include ‘Growing Up in an Online World’, which will include modules on pornography vs. real-life intimate relationships, online sexual harms, and the impact of AI and deepfakes.
Another course, ‘STIs, Contraception and Local Sexual Health Services’, will include modules focusing on the causes, treatment and prevention of STIs; contraception, including LARC and emergency contraception; and signposting to local sexual health services.
The service will also host its first live broadcast this September, providing educational settings across Essex to join live RSHE sessions delivered by the Essex Sexual Health Service. Students will be given the opportunity to submit anonymous questions and have these answered in real time by the presenter using the online platform ‘Ask Provide’.
The new digital learning offer forms part of the service’s wider commitment to making reliable sexual health information easier to access and supporting people across Essex to have open, informed conversations about their sexual health and wellbeing.
The Essex Sexual Health Service Outreach and Education Team will be visiting education settings this week, promoting the national awareness week.
Paige Evans, RSHE and Coproduction Coordinator at Essex Sexual Health Service, said: “Sexual Health Week is a great opportunity to get people talking about sexual health, relationships and wellbeing, and this year’s theme of connection really reflects the work we do across Essex.
“We are particularly excited to launch our new eLearning platform and our first live broadcast during the week. We want to make it easier for people to access trusted information, build their knowledge and feel more confident having conversations about sexual health.
“Sexual health is about much more than preventing sexually transmitted infections. It’s about consent, communication and how these support healthy relationships and self-confidence, as well as having the skills and knowledge to make informed choices that are right for you.”
Essex Sexual Health Service is commissioned by Essex County Council and delivered by Provide Community, providing sexual health support including STI testing and treatment, contraception, education, outreach and health promotion across the county.
To find out more about Essex Sexual Health Service and the support available, visit the essex sexual health service website to access the new eLearning module please click here.
