Australia’s HIV response strengthened
Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the number of HIV diagnoses has fluctuated over the past five years, but diagnosis rates are still between 1.3–1.9 times higher than in Australian-born, non-Indigenous Australians. Professor James Ward from the University of Queensland says “To reduce this unacceptable gap, there needs to be sustained investment in targeted, culturally appropriate, community focused campaigns.”
Today (1 December 2020), on World AIDS Day, the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) has warmly welcomed a number of announcements from the Health Minister, the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, including the intention to ensure every person living in Australia with HIV has access to life saving antiretroviral medicine, regardless of Medicare eligibility. “This is a critical public health measure,” said Darryl O’Donnell, chief executive of the AFAO, “For too long, too many people in Australia who aren’t eligible for Medicare struggled to afford the medicine needed to keep them healthy. This act of leadership will give access to antiretroviral medicine to everyone in Australia who needs it. This is more than a question of treatment, it is also a question of prevention, because a person with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV.”
Darryl O’Donnell continued, “Australia has always been a global leader in the HIV response and today with 90% of those living in Australia with HIV tested and diagnosed, 91% on treatment and 97% achieving an undetectable viral load, we can be proud of being among a small handful of nations to meet the UNAIDS 2020 global [90-90-90] goal for HIV treatment and prevention. This is an important milestone, however we can and should be more ambitious. We must double down. With renewed political and financial commitment we can achieve 95-95-95 [the ambitious strategy announced by UNAIDS in 2014, aiming to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 by achieving 95% diagnosed among all people living with HIV (PLHIV), 95% on antiretroviral therapy (ART) among diagnosed, and 95% virally suppressed (VS) among treated].”
AFAO has produced a number of resources you can view by clicking on the resource title below:
To listen to a recording of this morning’s 2020 World AIDS Day Parliamentary Breakfast click here.
To view the AFAO media release click here.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, Senator Penny Wong, Minister for Health, Greg Hunt at the 2020 World AIDS Day Parliamentary Breakfast. Image source: AFAO website.