Australia has conquered AIDS, but not HIV

Australia has conquered AIDS, but not HIV -

AIDS epidemic in Australia has ended, and the country could virtually eliminate HIV infections in 2020, according to a statement released today by a team of researchers and experts to come to the international AIDS Conference 21, which begins next Sunday in Durban, South Africa community.

"AIDS threat to public health has turned into a challenge of HIV prevention," said epidemiologist Andrew Grulich, head of the HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program at the Kirby Institute infection and immunity in society, which leads the national surveillance of HIV / AIDS in Australia and is based at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney.

Grulich added that Australia "compares favorably" to a handful of countries such as Denmark, which have hindered HIV infections and effectively eliminated AIDS deaths. paper in the Lancet Infectious Diseases last May indicated that the rate of HIV infection among Danish gay men is only 0.14% per year, or one in 700. This rate is similar to that for 1000 the incidence rate of the World Health Organization set a threshold to eventually eliminate the HIV epidemic. Although 1000 Australians are diagnosed with HIV each year, effective and accessible treatments mean that few people progressing to AIDS, according to the announcement of Grulich and colleagues at five organizations. With the Kirby Institute, participating agencies are the Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations, the Peter Doherty Institute, Pacific Friends of the Global Fund, and the National Association of People with HIV in Australia (NAPWHA).

However, researchers warn that too many people are still infected with HIV and the diagnosis often comes rather late, after the virus began to cause disease. Therefore, they call for a long-term strategy to stop the spread of HIV. This strategy should target "vulnerable communities", including women, single men gays, and non-English speakers, said Cipri Martinez, president of NAPWHA in Sydney.

While welcoming the end of the "AIDS epidemic," UNSW expert in social policy Susan Kippax warns that "the HIV" is not over. She added that during the past decade, HIV diagnoses increased by 13%. "We have to watch our language," she said. Many people do not distinguish between HIV and AIDS, and may mistakenly believe that prevention is more critical, she said.

Yet , Kippax agreement with Grulich and company as close to zero AIDS diagnoses is the culmination of a 33 -Year response covering science, medicine and community outreach that began shortly after the arrival of HIV Australia. They also attribute the decline of AIDS in universal health care system in the nation, providing affordable medicines, effective and well tolerated for HIV infection.

pre-exposure prophylaxis ( PrEP) -medication taken daily to prevent HIV infection has also been particularly important, says director Peter Doherty Institute Sharon Lewin, an infectious disease doctor in Melbourne, Australia. PrEP was approved for use in Australia, and is made available in trials in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane. PrEP is currently being considered for funding under Australia Benefits Scheme, which subsidizes drugs for large pharmaceutical public.

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