WHO: Transgenderism no longer a mental illness
Transgender people, identified as the opposite gender to the one they were born with, should no longer be considered mentally ill, according to a new UN categorisation.
The World Health Organization's latest catalogue was launched on Monday which covers nearly 55,000 diseases and cause of death and category transgenderism has been recategorized. The new category is yet to be approved by the key members of UN.
Earlier there was a category of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders" that has been now listed under category "conditions related to sexual health".
The coordinator of WHO's department of reproductive health and research, Lale Say said, "We expect the re-categorization will reduce stigma." Many countries like France and Denmark have reclassified transgenderism and have taken it off the list of mental disorders.
The recent catalogue has a chapter on traditional medicine, which wasn't mentioned earlier. Now, there is a section on video gaming, keeping gaming disorder in mind.
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First published: 20 June 2018, 16:01 IST