Thu 18 Sep 2008 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
HIV cases in Australia have risen by almost 50% in the last eight years, prompting health experts to ask the government for more money to fight the epidemic. A study by the National Centre of HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the University of NSW found that 1051 new cases were diagnosed last year, up from 998 in 2006 and 718 in 1999, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Other sexually-transmitted infections such as chlamydia and syphilis are also on the increase, says the centre. Gay Australian men travelling in Asia and bringing back the virus are thought to be adding to the HIV increase. "Gay tourists also need to be more vigilant than ever as it has recently become very clear that in most Asian cities HIV epidemics among gay and bisexual men are now raging virtually unchecked," Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations executive director Don Baxter told the AAP. Meanwhile, use of the erection drug Viagra and the stimulant drug 'Ice' (called 'P' in New Zealand) to enhance sex are at greater risk of contracting HIV, says a new study by the federation, which Baxter identified as due to increasingly risky sexual behaviour in some groups of men in larger cities. "We need to be targeting our messages to the men who play in more sexually adventurous scenes where risks with both drugs and sex are common," he told The Age newspaper.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Thursday, 18th September 2008 - 11:56am