User:ArtemisOz/sandbox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from HIV in Australia)

Jump to navigationJump to search

This article is about the history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Australia. For a history of the disease worldwide, see AIDS pandemic.

The history of HIV/AIDS in Australia is distinctive, as Australian government bodies recognised and responded to the AIDS pandemic relatively swiftly, with the implementation of effective disease prevention and public health programs, such as needle and syringe programs (NSPs). As a result, despite significant numbers of at-risk group members contracting the virus in the early period following its discovery, the country achieved and has maintained a low rate of HIV infection in comparison to the rest of the world.

At the end of 2017, 27 545 people were estimated to be living with HIV in Australia. 20 922 infections were attributable to male‐to‐male sexual exposure, 6 245 to heterosexual sexual exposure, 605 to injecting drug use, and 168 to ‘other’ exposures (vertical transmission to newborn, blood/tissue recipient, healthcare setting, haemophilia/coagulation disorder). AIDS is no longer considered an epidemic or a public health issue in Australia, due to the success of anti-retroviral drugs and extremely low HIV-to-AIDS progression rates.