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We can do more to aid people with HIV

Bill Whittaker

by Bill Whittaker

18 Oct 05:49am

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Filed under: Aids, Health, Hiv, Hiv Aids, Public Health, Safe Sex, Sex

77 comments

There has been a 50 per cent increase in HIV cases over the past decade in Australia. So what are we going to do about it?

Probably overkill, now? Pic: File photo

The biggest bang for our buck will be getting people who have HIV on treatment. The data suggests only around 50 per cent of people with HIV in Australia are on HIV treatment, yet it is becoming increasingly clear that virtually all people with HIV should consider taking treatment to benefit their health and wellbeing. 

Untreated HIV is bad at all stages of the disease.  Also, taking HIV treatment can significantly reduce the risk of passing on HIV to others.

For all the improvements in HIV treatment and care, this is not a disease you want. While treatments are effective, they need to be taken for life.  There is no cure for HIV.  Also, research is showing that people with HIV have higher rates of cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, kidney disease, cancers and lower bone density than the general population. 

Being on HIV treatment can reduce the impact of some of these problems, so there are health advantages and well as prevention advantages in taking treatment.

To bring down rising rates of HIV infection, we need to change from a “business as usual” approach.  Firstly, we need to make HIV testing easier and more widely available.  Everyone at high risk to HIV should have access to testing, including rapid HIV testing which is not yet available in Australia.  So we need access to rapid testing, so people can know within an hour if they are HIV positive, rather than waiting anxiously for days for a result.

That’s a disincentive to being tested; we need to make testing for HIV fast, easy and accessible.

In the US, one of the drugs used to treat HIV (called Truvada) has been approved for use to help stop HIV negative people from becoming infected.  Truvada is a combination of two anti-HIV drugs taken as a once daily pill. 

This is a major breakthrough for people at high risk of becoming HIV infected.  While condoms need to remain the centrepiece of prevention efforts, Australia should move promptly to make Truvada available to people who are struggling to remain HIV free.

We want to give people information, and support them to make good decisions around sex - but if people are on HIV treatment and there’s a slip up or a problem then they’ve got a buffer.

There is too much red tape preventing easy access to testing and treatment for people with HIV and those at high risk of becoming infected. 

We are urging the Federal Health Minister to fast-track changes to Australia’s National HIV Strategy to deal with these blockages - in the meanwhile the states and territories should be setting up their own measures for providing better access.

Some people have become complacent about HIV. And that’s often the case in public health challenges.  People are complacent about smoking and diet and keeping fit to prevent heart disease. Complacency is part and parcel of public health challenges.

What you have to do to is keep giving people information regularly. And that’s what we’ve not been doing enough of in the HIV field, particularly in last couple of years where there’s been big changes in treating and preventing HIV – so much so that we may at last be on the track to achievng an AIDS-free generation. 

But we won’t get there without reform, innovation and leadership from governments, scientists, doctors, people with HIV and affected communities working together in a determined and productive fashion.

Australia has long been regarded as a world leader in responding to HIV and AIDS.  That reputation is now at risk. 

So these disturbing rises in HIV infection are also an opportunity for us to act decisively to show the rest of the world that we are determined to be leaders in ending the HIV epidemic.

The Melbourne Declaration calls on State, Territory and Commonwealth Governments to work with community-based organisations, research centres and professional organisations to:

* Increase uptake of, and better HIV testing;
* Enhance access to antiretroviral treatment;
* Make HIV PrEP available, and
* Strengthen a partnership response and an enabling environment, including support for HIV research and dissemination of information.

Comments on this post will close at 8pm AEST.

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77 comments

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    • Gratuitous Adviser says:

      06:08am | 18/10/12

      Forget this “we” BS and the bleading obvious.  To my knowledge, this increase in HIV cases in Australia is fundamentally caused because of reluctance by healthy, educated, experienced and articulate gays to use a condom when freelancing and in the heat of the moment; they just can not be bothered. 

      I do not know, but I presume the writer using the “we” and “people” and “Australians’ should” and the classic “Australia’s reputation” in his argument will convince our current Government that it is a general community caused problem and the general community therefore must pay. 

      This issue is about a specific group in our society acting irresponsibility but wanting the general community to take the financial burden for their carelessness.

      By the by:  I am losing my love for this Government there is no doubt, but does the media really have to keep going on about the PM having a simple innocent fall.  How “tabloid” and childish do we need to get before we reach bottom?  Sheeez.

      Reply

    • gof says:

      08:04am | 18/10/12

      Exactly! And when their disgusting promiscuity and irresponsibility leads to infection, we the tax payer and responsible general public are left subsidising their lifelong and expensive drug treatments to keep them alive because they can’t be bothered using a 20 cent condom for a quick shag. I am saddened for the innocent female partners of bisexual males who are unaware of their husbands depraved double life and get infected, these are the innocent victims in all of this and they are the ones who need support.

    • daniel says:

      08:55am | 18/10/12

      Here we go it’s all the gays fault and it’s only a “gay” problem.

      Let’s ignore the promiscuous husbands overseas on ‘business’ or the young people on holiday in South-East Asia, Africa or South America or the drug addicts whose cravings become so overwhelming that there’s nothing wrong with sharing needles.

      But I digress. It’s a “specific group” that’s the problem.

      And what about the obese? The general community also has to carry the financial burden of their lack of self-control and carelessness for their health and well-being.

    • JFRA says:

      09:24am | 18/10/12

      wow. a specific group acting irresponsibly? disgusting promiscuity? please tell me, which group do i fall into? i’m a straight female who went volunteering overseas and got maleria. the hospital i was treated in was terrible and i was so sick, i didn’t have a choice. at one point, i saw them use a needle on two different patients. after getting out of the hospital, i commenced taking PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) and waited for three months to know whether i’d contracted HIV in a country where 1 in 40 have it. i was blessed and didn’t end up having it, but this article is aimed at people exactly like YOU, who think that HIV is someone else’s problem! honestly, get off your high-horse

    • nihonin says:

      09:40am | 18/10/12

      ‘And what about the obese? The general community also has to carry the financial burden of their lack of self-control and carelessness for their health and well-being.’

      True they are daniel, usually their lack of self-control kills just themselves in pretty much 100% of cases.  Nice deflection though.

    • Chris says:

      10:07am | 18/10/12

      Nihonin,

      I agree that obesity generally (in a direct sense) only “kills” the person who is obese.

      But don’t think for a moment that it doesn’t impact on that person’s family, friends and colleagues in various ways.

      Obese parents have a tendancy to have obese children.  THAT has an impact on the children, both physically and psychologically.

      Obese fathers who cannot play with their children actively or are so generally unhealthy that they miss out on fatherhood altogether, ARE impacting on their families.  That impacts on their children’s children, and generations to come.  They are impacting on their wives, their parents, and everybody around them.

      No - they are not “infecting” them with obesity, but don’t assume that there is no impact.

      But - that’s not what this article is about so I won’t digress too much.

      C

    • Kika says:

      10:16am | 18/10/12

      Are you serious Gratuitous Adviser? Pregnant women are only a small portion of the population yet public health gives them the care they need. Cancer patients are a small number yet we give them help. All sorts of diseases happen to people we may not always like or agree with their lifestyle choices - what about idiot school boys planking? Should we turn them away from hospitals because we don’t agree with their lifestyle?

      My word. Your name should be Hitler or Goebbels or something.

    • Chris says:

      11:17am | 18/10/12

      Kika I agree in principle but we need to put things in perspective.

      There are, in total (and assuming rates of assumed undiagnosed conditions are correct) around 35,000 people with HIV/AIDS in Australia.  There were around 1137 new diagnoses in the last year.

      This year, in Australia, the Cancer Council expects around 534000 new diagnoses of cancer.  The causes of cancer, although now better known, are still too complex for us to understand.  People get many forms of cancer and we have no idea why.  The CC estimates that around 43000 people died of cancer in 2010.

      The two are not vaguely comparable.

      And therein lies the issue - although compassion is important and called for in response to suffering of any kind, at some point we must ask how rational it is in terms of economic spending for us to pile heaps of cash and human resource into an area that is now well enough understood that the vast majority of cases could be eliminated through better choices.

      There is a large grey and blurry line somewhere there.

      C

    • Pattem says:

      11:30am | 18/10/12

      @JFRA comparing Malaria with HIV is quite a stretch.  Getting bitten by a mosquito is outside a person’s control; HIV fits into the category of STD.  Diligence and care can minimise the risks.  The CDC states that:

      “Individuals who are infected with STDs are at least two to five times more likely than uninfected individuals to acquire HIV infection if they are exposed to the virus through sexual contact.”

      @Bill Whittaker, treatment is the backend of any disease.  Should not prevention be the better course?  Reuters, in Sept 2010 reported that: “Nearly one in five gay and bisexual men in 21 major U.S. cities are infected with HIV, and nearly half of them do not know it.”  We know where the highest rates of AIDs occur, so shouldn’t there be better education in those communities.

      Must studies suggest that Homosexuals account for 1.5-2% of the general population, such as the CDC Report from Sept 2012.

      Also according to the CDC: “At the end of 2009, an estimated 441,669 (56%) persons living with an HIV diagnosis in the US were MSM or MSM-IDU”.  The rate of AIDs among Lesbians is much lower.

      @Daniel, in the early 1980s AIDS was clinically called GRID “Gay Related Immune Deficiency”, but lobbying by the Gay Community brought about the renaming to AIDS to attempt to remove the stigma; helped by the fact that not JUST gay men acquired the disease.  Changing the name of a disease does not changes the disease’s behaviour.  Wherever there is promiscuity, multiple partners, partner swapping, gay or hetero, there you will more than likely find AIDs.

      The most reliable forms of innoculation against any STD are: Monogamy and Abstinence.  Sure, that doesn’t prevent contraction via tainted needles, but it does minimise the risk the natural way.

    • Pattem says:

      11:47am | 18/10/12

      @Kika, but Pregnancy is not a disease.  It is over and done with within 9 months.

      Cancer is not the result of a lifestyle choice.  Whether you believe Homosexuality is a choice or is genetically pre-disposed, there is no gene for promiscuity.  You could be gay and monogamous, but monogamy doesn’t go “with the lifestyle”. 

      Look at the history of STDs.  Syphilis, for example, ravaged Europe in 1494/5.  The moment you put Metropolis’ and promiscuity together, STDS skyrocket.

      However, Kika, I do absolutely agree that you cannot stop treating these people simple because of their lifestyle choice.  But, they should be encouraged to lead a less risky lifestyle.

    • JB says:

      12:14pm | 18/10/12

      @Pattem, If they choose to lead a risky lifestyle which was the cause of their infection then i say bad luck! Do any of you know how much HIV medication costs? It is VERY expensive! Thousands of dollars a bottle and yet they expect to be treated even though they are responsible for their own predicament!
      That money that is being spent on them could be better spent of metrications to actually save lives of other people like women with breast cancer.
      There are medication that will stop the diseases but they too are VERY expensive and can’t be funded because there just isn’t enough money to go around! Are you aware how many people especially young people have unprotected casual sex? Or people that still believe that the “Pull out” method works so they don’t have to use protection?
      Why should society pay to help these people who are too stupid to help themselves!!!!
      I blame the moral breakdown of society and people being too self centered only interested in their own pleasure and notoriety and hang the expense and the government will pickup the bill.

    • Pattem says:

      01:01pm | 18/10/12

      @JB , interesting points, I agree, but then should we not treat anyone who contributed to their own illness, injury?  A guy who plows into a pole while DUI…do we just leave him on the side of the road to die?

      Who are we to pick and choose who lives and dies?

      I understand your sentiment, and on some level would agree with it…but…it is potentially a risky approach to take.

      For example, sometimes I think our Doctors and their Hypocratic Oath get in the way of proper Palliative Care.

    • Pattem says:

      01:05pm | 18/10/12

      @ JB, I forgot to mention, I absolutely agree with your sentiment:

      “I blame the moral breakdown of society and people being too self centered only interested in their own pleasure and notoriety and hang the expense and the government will pickup the bill.”

      We live in a world where our actions are someone else’s responsibility….anyone’s but our own.  I would hate to think that I am old enough to refer to The Good Ol’ Days smile  When I was younger…ha ha

    • PeterD says:

      01:11pm | 18/10/12

      Actually, Gratuitous Adviser, the increase in HIV cases in Australia is NOT due to the gay community. Some of the other media reports specifically mentioned this fact.

      But none of them have mentioned exactly why the number of HIV cases have been increasing. This article makes no mention about the reason for the increase either. How curious.  I wonder why?

      Could it be that African refugees are ranked higher on the scale of political correctness than gay people, so this is one of the rare occasions when it’s OK to throw the gays under the bus, and let people assume that they are to blame?

    • Kika says:

      01:45pm | 18/10/12

      @Pattem - Pregnancy is a lifestyle choice. We all choose to become pregnant in one way or the other. We all know how babies get there. If one decides to become a parent why should any tax payer foot the bill? And I’m pregant and I certainly don’t feel like it isn’t an illness at times!

      Cancer can be a lifestyle choice - Cervical cancer is caused by s*xual activity with boys. Mobile phone tumours? Working with Asbestos? They are all choices.

    • JB says:

      01:51pm | 18/10/12

      @Pattem, I agree as well with point you raise as to where do we draw the line. Palliative Care don’t get me started because i have seen it and euthanasia should be legalised. Anyone who has seen the pain these people do through and the medication stop working would agree. You would easy the pain and suffering of a pet yet we are not allowed to give out loved ones the same degree of compassion!
      Yes the good old days where most people were moral, ethical and honest and life was simpler back then with fewer problems.
      I think we are both a bit long in the tooth wink

    • Stuart Germon says:

      02:48pm | 18/10/12

      I read Gratuitous statement and thought surely in this day and age AIDS coudln’t be just a gay problem. Quick googling and it turns out it mainly is! WTF doods, don’t be a fool and wrap that tool. How dumb can they possibly be, they must know their at high risk , choosing to ignore it is insane, AIDS scares the crap outta me!

      But they like any other Australians should get support, their are other people who I’m sure have contracted AIDS not involving stupidity and you giving them support on a case by case basis aint gonna work or be fair. Plus we tax payers support all sort of other idiots who hurt themselves doing all sorts of stupid things, either help em all or help none.

    • Pattem says:

      06:35pm | 18/10/12

      The fact remains that the Gay community makes up 1.5-2% of the population, yet account for 56% of all AIDS victims. That is scary!

    • Pattem says:

      06:39pm | 18/10/12

      @Kika, pregnancy contributes to the social well being of any nation. Regardless of it being a choice I cannot see how you can lump it in the same category as AIDS contracted as a result if promiscuity. They’re chalk and cheese.

    • Pattem says:

      06:46pm | 18/10/12

      @JB. what’s to stop someone denied the chance to euthanise from admitting themself into a Palliative Care Unit?  I am not being facetious but asking because I do not know the answer.

    • gobsmack says:

      06:20am | 18/10/12

      The fact that current day treatments of HIV are much more effective is probably one of the reasons why the infection rate is increasing.  A sense of complacency has set in.

      When AIDS emerged in the 1980s, it was almost a death sentence.  The shockingly high mortality rate mobilised the gay community to heavily promote the safe-sex message by all possible means.  As the article states, Australia lead the world in its response to AIDS and it did so by education rather than outright fear-mongering.

      Reply

    • Fiona says:

      07:43am | 18/10/12

      Agreed, it’s become more of a chronic disease now, rather than a death sentence. We probably need another ad campaign, maybe slightly different to the grim reaper style ads of the 80s.

    • AdamC says:

      09:45am | 18/10/12

      True. I tend to see the rising HIV rate as a good problem to have; an inevitable consequence of the technologies we now possess which make HIV less of a fearsome affliction.

      When the barebacking set regard becoming ‘poz’ as merely an unpleasant side effect of having sex with randoms sans protection, then there is a limit to what government funding and badgering by public health advocates can accomplish.

    • simonfromlakemba says:

      10:16am | 18/10/12

      Barebacking, made me laugh. Never thought id see that on the punch..lol

    • AdamC says:

      11:52am | 18/10/12

      Haha, true, simon.

      But why beat around the bush? The barebacking ‘movement’, for want of a better term, is almost solely responsible for the surge in HIV cases in western countries.

      Given the general self-destructiveness of many gat men, and especially gay men who like to bareback strangers they meet on Grindr or specialist hook-up websites, I cannot see well-meaning social engineers having a great impact on their lifestyle choices.

    • nihonin says:

      06:35am | 18/10/12

      Agree there should be something more done for the safety of all people unaffected by AIDS, I applaud the ones who undergo treatment for their longevity and consideration of other other people.  But what about the affected who go around infecting other people, what to do with them…......if/when caught, life in goal for murder (if their victim under goes treatment and goes into remission, the perpetrator should still be charged with murder).

      Reply

    • PsychoHyena says:

      07:49am | 18/10/12

      @nihonin I believe they get charged under laws relating to “assault with the intent to cause harm” or something along those lines. From the cases I’ve seen, where an infected person has sex with someone and doesn’t inform the other person of their HIV status then they get charged as HIV falls under the reportable diseases. The same goes for Hepatitis and any other incurable disease transmitted through sex.

      It’s also interesting to see all the shallow-minded people coming out blaming same-sex relations for the progression of HIV. Last I heard there were a number of heterosexuals with the disease.

      Quite simply, HIV is transmitted through the contact of infected bodily fluids with other bodily fluids, this is one reason why paramedics, etc are required to use gloves when treating patients. I’m all for free-speech and all but can’t we just get rid of the obviously uneducated comments like that from ‘gof’ below and ‘Gratuitous Advisor’ above?

    • Chris says:

      08:28am | 18/10/12

      PsychoH,

      If you read the study that this news cycle relates to, you will see that basically the entire 50% increase that we are talking about is in the gay male demographic.

      Calling people shallow-minded doesn’t change the facts.  Yes - other categories of people get HIV/AIDS, but this increase is all in gay men.

      C

    • nihonin says:

      09:16am | 18/10/12

      ‘It’s also interesting to see all the shallow-minded people coming out blaming same-sex relations for the progression of HIV. ‘

      Where in my comment have I ‘blamed’ Gays or Lesbians?  Or are you just referring in general to other commenters.

    • gof says:

      09:34am | 18/10/12

      “Or are you just referring in general to other commenters.”
      I think they are, in general, referring to social progressives and free thinkers like myself.

    • PsychoHyena says:

      09:44am | 18/10/12

      @nihonin, it was about the other commentators.

      @Chris I originally didn’t read the linked article, however I still stand by my point in regards to the comments by ‘gof’ and ‘Gratuitous Advisor’ who seem to view it as only being a homosexual problem that is related to the act of homosexual relations.

      I probably should have split my comment into two to avoid confusion.

    • gof says:

      06:54am | 18/10/12

      Who is surprised? With an increased number deciding to turn homosexual of course HIV is going to increase in the same vain.
      The only AID they deserve is a small bright shiny brass shell.

      Reply

    • gobsmack says:

      07:57am | 18/10/12

      To whoever is moderating this site, the above comment from this bigotted ignoramus goes beyond the Pale.

    • NigelC says:

      07:58am | 18/10/12

      Could the above comment by gof be construed as an incitement to shoot gays? If so it has no place on this or any other website.

    • Mahhrat says:

      08:09am | 18/10/12

      Yeah I’m with gobsmack and NigelC, Punch Team.  This is hate speech, not an expression of free speech.

    • marley says:

      08:10am | 18/10/12

      @gobsmack - totally agree with you.  This is one comment that ought never to have made it onto the page.

    • Anne71 says:

      08:21am | 18/10/12

      Agree with Gobsmack, NigelC, Mahhrat and Marley.  Gof’s comment is hate speech, not debate. How the heck did it get past the moderator?

    • P. Darvio says:

      08:27am | 18/10/12

      Yep your “Bible Law” says all gays must be killed - and by the sound of it that’s what you are advocating.

    • gof says:

      08:36am | 18/10/12

      This has obviously been taken the wrong way by these subconscious bigots. Do I feel sorry for someone who contracts a death sentence from their own stupidity and carnal desires, No! Do I feel sorry for someone who contracts this insidious disease from an infected blood transfusion most definitely.
      Why do you paint the culprit as the victim?

    • Warren says:

      08:56am | 18/10/12

      @gof Taken the wrong way?

      Not at all. Just pointing out your prejudice and stupidity.

    • TheRealDave says:

      08:59am | 18/10/12

      Yes gof, everyone else is a bigot - except the bloke that wants to give gay people ‘a small bright shiny brass shell’.

    • Pattem says:

      12:01pm | 18/10/12

      @ P. Darvio, Bible Law states: “Hate the sin but love the Sinner!”.  Anyone who believes that Bible entitles them to shoot, kill, maim, or hurt anyone, gay or otherwise, is taking the Bible out of context.  Please don’t make up biblical content.

    • Pattem says:

      12:02pm | 18/10/12

      @ P. Darvio, Bible Law states: “Hate the sin but love the Sinner!”.  Anyone who believes that Bible entitles them to shoot, kill, maim, or hurt anyone, gay or otherwise, is taking the Bible out of context.  Please don’t make up biblical content.

    • Robinoz says:

      07:28am | 18/10/12

      An indication of the number of HIV cases would have been useful. Fifty percent could be five or 10.

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      08:04am | 18/10/12

      The total number of diagnoses last year was just over 1100.

      The total number in the country is around 35000.

      The increase seen is almost entirely in the demographic of gay males, numbers of hetersexuals remaining relatively steady over the same period.

      C

    • JoniM says:

      10:52am | 18/10/12

      Yep !

      In true PC style, no one wants to link this obvious disease increase with the gay community !
      We would never want to give any creedence to the predictions of the likes of a Jim Wallace !
      So as a community , we just ignore this as a potentially disasterous health issue, in case we upset our gay friends, or worse still, risk being labelled homophobes !

    • NESLIHAN KUROSAWA says:

      07:30am | 18/10/12

      Hi Bill,

      It has been a while since we took up the issue of talking about a silent and deadly disease AIDS!  Because the actual complacency about this disease can be our worst kind of enemy at this stage.  When we look at the numbers of AIDS, it has been growing silently in Asian, African countries and most unlikely place of them all Russia, Ukraine and former Eastern block countries in their millions.  Especially in Russia growing fifteen fold in the last ten years or so.

      Of course with HIV AIDS comes with very costly treatment of other related diseases such as tuberculosis and other auto immune disorders.  Most people with AIDS living in African region can get their medication much more cheaply these days. However it is still a lifelong debilitating disease and somehow much worst for women of the child bearing age. At this age of jets setting around the world with no borders at all, we all have to pay special attention to this very serious and deadly disease, so the panic state of 1980’s isn’t forgotten so easily. Kind regards.

      Reply

    • Jay2 says:

      07:49am | 18/10/12

      @Gobsmack is right, complacency has set it. Even the amount of people who are testing positive for chlamydia is startling. It indicates that people are not using protection, ignorance + apathy = complacency.
      @Neslihan, yes, tb is another silent potential killer that goes untested for until symptoms manifest themselves, by then usually advanced.
      @gof, actually it appears that the heterosexual community is having a spike in STD’s.

      More health campaigns need to occur, because it would be cheaper than diagnosing and treatment.

      Reply

    • Pattem says:

      12:32pm | 18/10/12

      In Australia, in 2011, the incidence of TB cases was low at between 5–6 cases per 100,000 population.  But it was there!

    • bananabender56 says:

      08:25am | 18/10/12

      Could it be the increase is just a measure of people being tested? Botswana had (has?) one of the highest reported HIV infection rates in Africa, in part because the testing is free and confidential plus the treatment was (is?) free.
      Working in Guinea, we had voluntary testing with confidentiality and 8% of our workforce was HIV positive. I would suggest that in reality, more of our workforce were HIV positive than was reported in Botswana. You need to measure it before you can report on it.

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      08:59am | 18/10/12

      I think (from memory) the study commented on that, and considered that the increase was not accounted for simply by increased testing, but was a genuine increase in actual cases.

      They might be wrong, of course.

      C

    • Chris says:

      08:25am | 18/10/12

      The question isn’t what ARE we going to do about it, the question is what SHOULD we do about it.

      The increase of HIV/AIDS shown in the study is all in the gay male demographic.  The risks of unprotected sex generally, and in particular unprotected sex between men, is well known and advertised.

      I don’t want anyone to get infected with HIV/AIDS, irrerspective of how they live.  Likewise, I don’t want anyone to get any of the smoking related diseases, most of which are horrible, or obesity related conditions either.

      However, as a community, what is the limit of our responsibility to pay for people to stop doing stupid things to themselves?  Should we run yet another multi-million dollar advertising campaign for the sake of around 100 more people a year? What about chanelling another billion dollars of money into research institutes to develop treatments? 

      It’s impossible to place a dollar value on a human life, of course - but just whose responsibility is it?  If these people are ignoring sensible precautions now, then what hope is there that they won’t keep doing that irrespective of any campaigns to convince them otherwise.

      Perhaps knowingly having unprotected sex when you are aware of an AIDS/HIV diagnoses or risk should be a crime, punishable by a few years in prison.  Maybe that might get people to pay attention.

      That said - sex involves two people, both of whom (generally speaking) should be taking responsibility for those choices.

      Yes - I am aware that the same argument can be made for many many medical conditions that are connected with choice rather than chance.

      C

      Reply

    • biff says:

      08:31am | 18/10/12

      If we want to halt the spread of AIDS we might tighten up our immigration laws. Having lunacy as the centrepiece of such laws will have one result.

      “The Australian Immigration Department is loosening health restrictions to allow migrant workers with chronic conditions to enter Australia, including those with HIV/AIDS.

      With this change, Australia hopes to attract skilled migrant workers, who otherwise would have been denied a visa for health-related reasons.”

      http://www.aidsbeacon.com/news/2010/02/08/australia-eases-health-restrictions-on-hivaids-to-lure-migrant-workers/

      Reply

    • Leopold says:

      08:34am | 18/10/12

      Naturally this will bring out the most bigoted of them all (such as gof). There’s no point avoiding the fact that the ‘high risk’ people spoken about by the OP are gay men and IV drug users.

      Those who are ignorant may make the point that HIV is a product of promiscuous homosexual endeavours… when really HIV infection can come from the transmission of any bodily fluid between any person of any age\sex\race.

      By circumstance, gay men are more at risk, in exactly the same way that red heads are more susceptible to sunburn (and potentially skin cancer)... the red head can wear sunscreen in an attempt to prevent skin cancer, much the same as the gay man can wear condoms to attempt to prevent HIV infection.

      I see no reason why rapid HIV tests shouldn’t be available in Australia… the main thing that people will need to remember is that they aren’t quite as accurate as serology testing and that both can still yield false negatives and false positives.

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      08:56am | 18/10/12

      Those who are ignorant will ignore the fact that the 50% increase the subject of the study is largely in gay men, and that 72% of those diagnosed throughout the relevant period were gay men.  Heterosexual contact accounted for 16%.  IV Drug Use accounted for only 2%.

      Gay men are not at more risk “by circumstance” but by choice.  If they choose to have unprotected sex then they expose themselves to risk.  They can choose not to have sex, they can choose to have sex with only one (safe) partner, or they can choose to have protected sex. 

      Likewise, the red head (or bald man, for that matter) can choose to wear a hat or sunscreen, as you have said.

      The risk only arises out of choices.  It is not automatic susceptibility.

      C

    • Leopold says:

      09:35am | 18/10/12

      But in both cases, the sunscreen and the condom are not total protection, both can fail even with all due diligence shown by the user. Don’t get me wrong, going bareback in any circumstance brings with it significant risk, of which all sexually active people need to be aware of. But such is the human brain that risk carries a certain level of excitement.

      Being the receptive sexual partner, gay or straight (perhaps not lesbians?), has the highest risk of serious infection, with males being the most likely hosts, regardless of whether protection is used. Transmission from receptive anal sex (male or female) is 5 times more likely than receptive vaginal sex due to physiological differences in vaginal and rectal walls. Is it a conscious choice for gay men to partake in anal intercourse? If I can consciously choose to not do it, do they choose TO do it?

      I agree that monogamy is a likely partial control from the spread, however I would imagine that long term celibacy can result in other debilitating and often illegal activities.

    • Chris says:

      09:58am | 18/10/12

      Good reply.

      In my view anyone can choose NOT to have sex (or alternatively not to do so until you are in a lifetime committed relationship).  Most people, unfortunately, do not make that choice these days.

      Each choice increases or decreases risk. 

      If you:
      1) Do not have sex with another person unless you are certain they are not infected;
      2) Once you are in a relationship with a clean person, only have sex with that person,

      you reduce the prospect of HIV infection to near 0.  If, on top of that, you do not engage in IV drug use, then it is reduced further.

      In those circumstances the only risk of you getting HIV is through shear accident or medical error.  These days the prospects of that are extremely slim, although not completely negated.

      So - every choice either increases or decreases risk.  If you choose to have multiple partners, casual sex, unprotected sex or any of the above then you increase your risk.  If you are gay and you make those decisions, then you are at greater risk again, but the exposure to risk still comes from the decisions, not by shear virtue of the fact that you are gay.

      Your risk is never 0, and neither is it ever 100%.  My chances of getting hit by a car if I stay on the sidewalk are extremely slim compared to me walking down the middle of the road.  However, I make the choice to do so because it is the rational and sensible thing to do.

      I’m not sure what debilitating/illegal activities you consider celibacy might “cause”, but then I’m not sure I want to know either…

      C

    • JB says:

      12:20pm | 18/10/12

      @Leopold, yes but a condom was made for to go into a vagina that is lubricated and continues to lubricate during intercourse. As Anus does not therefore greatly increasing the risk of breakage!!!

    • JB says:

      12:25pm | 18/10/12

      @Leopold, yes but a condom was made for to go into a vagina that is lubricated and continues to lubricate during intercourse. As Anus does not therefore greatly increasing the risk of breakage!!!
      “I see no reason why rapid HIV tests shouldn’t be available in Australia” I do, THE COST$$$$$$
      ANYTHING done fast will be more prone to errors!!

    • Paul says:

      08:37am | 18/10/12

      Perhaps if society valued and recognised same sex relationships, and encouraged them, there would be less promiscuity and disease.

      Reply

    • Anna C says:

      09:29am | 18/10/12

      Marriage does not prevent promiscuity or STD’s in the heterosexual community so Paul what makes you think it would prevent them in the gay community? Nothing is stopping all people from using condoms.  People especially gay males have just become complacent about HIV.

    • Needabeernow says:

      09:08am | 18/10/12

      I am wondering if the rise in use of amphetamines - such as Ice which are notorious for releasing inhibitions and increasing unsafe sexual practices - have been factored in.

      Reply

    • Reschs Monkey says:

      09:14am | 18/10/12

      Let’s see, issue condoms in prisons, more needle exchange programs, additional supervised drug injecting rooms in areas of high use of injectable drugs for a start. Maybe even treat drug addiction as a heath problem instead of a criminal problem.

      But wait, this is The Punch. No doubt some of the regulars who inhabit this space will apportion the blame on the gay community.

      Reply

    • JoniM says:

      11:06am | 18/10/12

      Either that, or blame it on Abbott !

    • Kika says:

      10:20am | 18/10/12

      A lot of young people these days probably can’t remember the Grim Reaper and the Bowling ball ads on TV during the 80’s. I only remember them because of my Nanny’s obsession with her daytime soaps and sitting around at her place with my auntys and the ad would come on. I remember feeling absolutely shocked by the grim reaper taking out the little girl my age. I had no idea what AIDS was, but I knew I didn’t want it.

      And the little girl on 60 minutes who was refused to go to kindy because of her HIV positive condition. That struck home too. I can’t remember her name, poor little thing.

      Maybe the only option IS to increase public awareness of the problem and remind the younger generation that AIDS is real and does happen and even though you can get medicine to keep you alive, it comes at a price. I have watched a Stephen Fry documentary about AIDS and a lot of young gay guys decide to play Russian Roulette with their lives because they know if they do contract it they can always take the anti-viral medicine. It’s sad…

      Reply

    • kitteh says:

      12:02pm | 18/10/12

      Magic Johnson once commented that people see only his vital (looking) public face, rather than the three hours a day he spends shitting his guts out due to side effects of the drugs and the recurrent intestinal infections.

      HIV therapy has come a long way, but ultimately those with HIV still face years of illness and an early, drawn-out, agonising death. Drug resistance rates are skyrocketing too (not surpising for an RNA virus). We need to stop promoting this idea of HIV+ individuals leading full, happy lives seemingly untouched by illness, and start promoting the reality.  I understand the point was not to stigmatise people, but come on - once you have this disease, your life is forever changed. People (gay and straight) need to remember of that.

    • Kika says:

      01:46pm | 18/10/12

      Totally agree and THAT needs to be told…

    • Dan Webster says:

      11:29am | 18/10/12

      “HIV transmission in Australia occurs primarily through sexual contact between men. Around 65% of people newly diagnosed with HIV in 2009 were among men who have sex with men; 28.7% were exposed through heterosexual contact; 2.3% were due to injecting drug use; and a further 3% were men with a history of both injecting drug use and sex with other men.”
      Source > http://www.avert.org/aids-hiv-australia.htm

      ^ Proof that the majority of HIV cases are from sexual acts between men.
      Gay men and bisexual men.

      Let’s all cut the PC crap and look at the facts. If you are a gay man, then please take all precautions necessary to stop the spread of HIV

      Reply

    • AliceC says:

      11:54am | 18/10/12

      That will prevent the spread of HIV in the gay community, so what about the hetero community????

    • Dan Webster says:

      12:55pm | 18/10/12

      @ AliceC I see your point but when two out of every three people who have HIV are gay or bisexual men. Maybe we should concentrate on that first. Not picking on gay or bisexual men, I’m just pointing out the facts.

      Let’s not forget that these gay or bisexual men are sons, brothers, uncles, fathers etc. They are not just potentially hurting themselves if they get the HIV virus. They are hurting the people who love them.

    • Peter says:

      11:52am | 18/10/12

      Nothing worthwhile will happen because it is not politically correct to point out the truth.  Nor is it politically correct for those responsible to take responsibility. And it is definitely not politically correct to suggest that simple lifestyle changes can totally eradicate HIV within a generation. 

      It is essential for all of us to do whatever we want without consequences of any (unpleasant) kind. Unfortunately nature doesn’t work that way.

      Reply

    • Damian says:

      12:33pm | 18/10/12

      Whenever I make the mistake of feeling that humanity is making significant progress in developing community and making human dignity a focus of moral thinking, I always have the internet to bring be back to earth.

      Reply

    • Orion says:

      01:56pm | 18/10/12

      HIV isn’t a disease guys, it’s a virus. So the number of people carrying it has increased over the past decade, so what? For the decade before that it fell, so we are back where we started aren’t we? Oh wait..

      The number of people diagnosed with AIDS, which is the disease HIV causes, has fallen steadily over the past 20 years from around 800 in 1987 to just 90 in 2009. Damn, no crisis after all. Might have to find another one to activate on.

      Reply

    • Gamer says:

      04:46pm | 18/10/12

      So because we have expensive treatments that stop or slow the progresing of HIV into AIDS, there isn’t a crisis anymore? I might be wrong, but that seems to be something to worry about.

    • Fed Up says:

      02:58pm | 18/10/12

      If we’re into bagging fat people and smokers for being a drain on the health system then we have to bag gays and bisexuals.
      Its time to “man up”... take personal responsibility and stop relying on the tax payer to bail you out.

      Reply

    • Smashmellows says:

      04:12pm | 18/10/12

      Good points Orion but you miss the most important one.  AIDS rates are so low due to anti-retroviral tretament of those infected with HIV.  This is the issue.  If HIV rates go up, the rate of AIDS disgnosis willl only be kept under controll by increasing expensive anti-retrivoral treatment paid from the public purse.  Prevention is the way to go.

      Reply

    • Aussie Wazza says:

      05:39pm | 18/10/12

      Back in the late 50’s & early 60’s before my wife had the good fortune to meet me, it gave me a lovely warm feeling, bringing great joy into many young ladies lives.

      I avoided any suspected of even possibly having the clap and there were reasonable indicators here. I don’t think H.I.V. or AIDs displays itself for a long time. Too late mate.

      Today I sympathise with those males who have had to restrain dispersing their favours generously and with the females denied.

      Based on the attitude of sacrificing a few for the benefit of the many, nations continue to send the cream of youth afar toward that goal.

      Yet when attacked from within our own shores by an insidious and unfeeling enemy with the capacity to bring humanity down, we take the three monkey line.

      Without giving pain or disadvantage to those carriers, they should be isolated well away from where they can infect others by whatever means, or be easily identifiable by a tattoo on their forehead.

      No foreigner (who perhaps is carrying a new strain) should be permitted to enter Australia.

      Reply
 
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