HIV rates reach historic lows
Minister for Health, Jill Hennessy, has announced that 95% of people living with HIV in Victoria are getting the treatment they need, effectively reducing their risk of transmitting HIV to zero. According to new data, there were 57 cases of HIV between April and June this year in Victoria, compared with 92 for the same period 12 months prior. This brings the year-to-date total to 130 new HIV cases, compared with 167 for the same period in 2017 – a 22 per cent drop.
The downward trend is thanks to more people getting tested than ever before, treatment as prevention, conventional safe sex practices and the game-changing HIV prevention drug, Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).
LPV CEO, Richard Keane, is further encouraged that “by adhering to effective treatments we are not only taking care of ourselves, but taking care of others by reducing forward transmission of HIV. However, the goal of ending HIV transmission does not mean an end to HIV. All people living with HIV today will be living with HIV tomorrow. Stigma, discrimination and laws that criminalise transmission continue to remain a significant barrier for us.”