doctor007
11th September 2009, 02:50 PM
The full 150 page report .pdf is available here (http://www.nchecr.unsw.edu.au/NCHECRweb.nsf/resources/SurvReports_3/$file/ASR2009.pdf).
The report was released earlier today, and there were some interesting points highlighted in the summary (page 7).
The first that caught my attention was that while NSW and VIC were reported to have stabilised in disease rates, QLD rates had increased in 2008 from 3.4 per 100,000 (reported in 1999) to 4.7 per 100,000 - which is a bit of a disappointment.
The second point was that HIV continued to be transmitted primary through sexual contact between men.
Although you could argue that screening and diagnostic tests (which are always being refined) may have improved since 1999 and therefore the increase could reflect better diagnostics rather than increased incidence of disease, I still can't help thinking these two points are connected and that safe-sex just isn't as big a priority as it used to.
I'm not going to rant and rave about condoms and bareback sex, but I do think bareback has become cool all over again because it's taboo and underground. That's sort of the traditional gay culture, but it bit them on the arse back then (no pun intended) and the last thing we want to see is a repeat. Sure, the national numbers are declining, but complacency is the epidemic's best friend.
The report was released earlier today, and there were some interesting points highlighted in the summary (page 7).
The first that caught my attention was that while NSW and VIC were reported to have stabilised in disease rates, QLD rates had increased in 2008 from 3.4 per 100,000 (reported in 1999) to 4.7 per 100,000 - which is a bit of a disappointment.
The second point was that HIV continued to be transmitted primary through sexual contact between men.
Although you could argue that screening and diagnostic tests (which are always being refined) may have improved since 1999 and therefore the increase could reflect better diagnostics rather than increased incidence of disease, I still can't help thinking these two points are connected and that safe-sex just isn't as big a priority as it used to.
I'm not going to rant and rave about condoms and bareback sex, but I do think bareback has become cool all over again because it's taboo and underground. That's sort of the traditional gay culture, but it bit them on the arse back then (no pun intended) and the last thing we want to see is a repeat. Sure, the national numbers are declining, but complacency is the epidemic's best friend.