File photo HIV rates have risen for the first time in five years across the Tasman, driven by increases in gay men testing positive. The Kirby Institute has released figures showing the number of new diagnoses increased by 8 per cent last year, and by 50 per cent during the past 10 years. The institute’s head David Wilson says NSW, Victoria and the ACT have driven the increase. ''In these three states we have seen quite a significant rise in the last calendar year,'' he has told the Sydney Morning Herald. ''We thought we had at least reached a plateau about five years ago but we have not,'' he added. Victoria experienced the biggest increase but in NSW more people were being picked up with HIV they had contracted only recently, as opposed to being picked up only after the condition had progressed. The figures show the most increases have been driven by growth among gay men, although in the past 10 years there have been rises in other groups. Experts attending the Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference today will launch a plan, the Melbourne Declaration, in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease. It will include calls to remove restrictions on funding for medications for people in the early stages of the disease and speed up the approval of antiretroviral drugs for the prevention of HIV in people exposed to it. The executive director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, Rob Lake, is also calling for Australia to urgently introduce rapid testing.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 17th October 2012 - 12:44pm