Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Progress and Challenges in Ending HIV and AIDS in Australia

  • Perspectives
  • Published:
AIDS and Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This review considers Australia’s progress towards the elimination of HIV and AIDS, as specified in international targets. In particular, it considers the reaction to recent media reports that Australia has ‘ended AIDS’ and evaluates progress towards reducing HIV transmission. Recent surveillance data and research show significant improvements in HIV testing and treatment, but countervailing trends such as increased condomless sex between gay and other men who have sex with men. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is being implemented at scale in some jurisdictions, with the hope that this will significantly alter the trajectory of Australia’s HIV epidemic, which has been stable for the last five years (at around 1000–1100 infections per year). The ongoing challenge in maintaining investment, while also considering how to respond to the diversification of the local epidemic, means that Australia has entered a critical period in which evidence of PrEP’s impact is eagerly awaited.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations. Australians need to work together to end HIV as nation marks extraordinary progress against AIDS. 2016. https://www.afao.org.au/media-centre/media-releases/2016/australians-need-to-work-together-to-end-hiv-as-nation-marks-extraordinary-progress-against-aids#.

  2. Coopes A. Australian researchers declare an end to AIDS as a public health issue. BMJ. 2016;354:i3895.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Jeong S. AIDS epidemic ‘over’ in Australia, say peak bodies. Sydney Morning Herald. 2016. http://www.smh.com.au/national/aids-epidemic-over-in-australia-say-peak-bodies-20160710-gq2lqx.html.

  4. Pearl H. Australia declares AIDS no longer public health issue. Reuters. 2016. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-health-idUSKCN0ZR0RF.

  5. Aubusson K. It’s no longer an epidemic, but AIDS and HIV still kill in Australia. Sydney Morning Herald. 2016. http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/its-no-longer-an-epidemic-but-aids-and-hiv-still-kill-in-australia-20160711-gq30mw.html.

  6. UNAIDS. Fact sheet November 2016. Geneva: UNAIDS; 2016.

  7. Kippax S, Connell RW, Dowsett GW, Crawford J. Sustaining safe sex: gay communities respond to AIDS. London: The Falmer Press; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Altman D. Power and community: organisational and cultural responses to AIDS. London: Falmer; 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Sendziuk P. Learning to trust: Australian responses to AIDS. Sydney: UNSW Press; 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Kippax S, Race K. Sustaining safe practice: twenty years on. Soc Sci Med. 2003;57(1):1–12.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. The Kirby Institute. HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmissible infections in Australia: Annual Surveillance Report 2016. Sydney: The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia; 2016.

  12. Persson A, Brown G, McDonald A, Körner H. Transmission and prevention of HIV among heterosexual populations in Australia. AIDS Educ Prev. 2014;26(3):245–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Bates J, Berg R. Sex workers as safe sex advocates: sex workers protect both themselves and the wider community from HIV. AIDS Educ Prev. 2014;26(3):191–201.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Australian HIV Observational Database. Annual Report 2016. Sydney: The Kirby Institute; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  15. NSW Ministry of Health. NSW HIV Strategy 2016-2020. Sydney: NSW Health; 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Commonwealth of Australia. Seventh National HIV Strategy 2014-2017. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Health; 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  17. UNAIDS (2011) Ten targets: United Nations Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, Global progress and lessons learned, 2011-2015. Geneva: UNAIDS.

  18. Holt M, Lea T, Mao L, Zablotska I, Lee E, Hull P, et al. Adapting behavioural surveillance to antiretroviral-based HIV prevention: reviewing and anticipating trends in the Australian Gay Community Periodic Surveys. Sex Health. 2016. doi:10.1071/SH16072

    Google Scholar 

  19. Wilson DP. HIV treatment as prevention: natural experiments highlight limits of antiretroviral treatment as HIV prevention. PLoS Med. 2012;9(7):e1001231.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Holt M, Lea T, Asselin J, Hellard M, Prestage G, Wilson D, et al. The prevalence and correlates of undiagnosed HIV among Australian gay and bisexual men: results of a national, community-based, bio-behavioural survey. J Int AIDS Soc. 2015;18(1):20526.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Jansson J, Kerr CC, Wilson DP. Predicting the population impact of increased HIV testing and treatment in Australia. Sex Health. 2014;11(2):146–54.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Templeton DJ, Read P, Varma R, Bourne C. Australian sexually transmissible infection and HIV testing guidelines for asymptomatic men who have sex with men 2014: a review of the evidence. Sex Health. 2014;11(3):217–29.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. World Health Organization. Consolidated guidelines on HIV testing services. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Bavinton B, Brown G, Hurley M, Bradley J, Keen P, Conway D, et al. Which gay men would increase their frequency of HIV testing with home self-testing? AIDS Behav. 2013;17(6):2084–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Guy R, Prestage G, Grulich A, Holt M, Conway D, Jamil M, et al. Potential public health benefits of HIV testing occurring at home in Australia. Med J Aust. 2015;202(10):529–31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Koester KA, Amico AR, Liu A, Grant R. Sex on PrEP: qualitative findings from the iPrEx Open Label Extension (iPrEx OLE) in the US. Paper presented at 20th International AIDS Conference, Melbourne, 20–25 Jul 2014.

  27. Murphy D, Rosengarten M, De Wit J, Wright E, Lal L, Audsley J, et al. The changing experiences of negotiating sex with (potential) partners for men using PrEP. Paper presented at Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference, Adelaide, 16–18 Nov 2016.

  28. Haire B, Callander D, Vaccher S, Cook T, Murphy D. What PrEP means for safe sex in Sydney: evolving norms. Paper presented at Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference, Adelaide, 16–18 Nov 2016.

Download references

Acknowledgements

The Centre for Social Research in Health is supported by the Australian Government Department of Health. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Australia, Level 2, John Goodsell Building, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Martin Holt

Authors
  1. Martin Holt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Holt.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Holt, M. Progress and Challenges in Ending HIV and AIDS in Australia. AIDS Behav 21, 331–334 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-016-1642-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-016-1642-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation