|
 The government-backed Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO)
and top scientists said the number of people being diagnosed with
AIDS in Australia was now so small it was no longer reported.
AIDS cases in Australia peaked in 1994, at 953 cases, according to
the Kirby Institute for infection and immunity in society.
Since then, following the introduction of antiretroviral treatment,
that prevent AIDS developing in people who are infected with the HIV
virus, and awareness campaigns, AIDS diagnoses have declined
sharply.
"Australia is incredibly fortunate to be in the position and its
because of farsighted government policy,” said Darryl O'Donnell,
chief executive AFAO.
“We had community organizations of gay men, sex workers and drug
users doing outreach campaigns that were extraordinarily effective,”
O'Donnell said.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Department of Health said while it was
tremendous that AIDS was "not the automatic death sentence that it
once was", approximately 1,100 cases of HIV are detected each year.
"We must not let down our guard."
Worldwide there are 36.7 million people living with HIV, according
to the World Health Organization, with 180,000 people dying from
AIDS-related illness in the Asia-Pacific region last year.
The United Nations agreed a new declaration on ending the AIDS
epidemic at a meeting in New York last month.
[to top of second column] |
The UNAIDS Fast-Track approach to ending the AIDS epidemic has a set
of time-bound targets, including reducing the number of people newly
infected with HIV from 2.1 million in 2015 to fewer than 500,000 in
2020, reducing the number of people dying from AIDS-related
illnesses from 1.1 million in 2015 to fewer than 500,000 in 2020 and
eliminating HIV-related discrimination.
Andrew Grulich, head of the HIV Epidemiology and Prevention Program
at the Kirby Institute, said other countries could learn from
Australia.
"The thing that has characterized Australia is a partnership between
all sectors involved," he said. "Community, research and the
government - and having bipartisan political support.”
(Reporting by Harry Pearl; Editing by Robert Birsel)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
