3 February 2010

Increasing rates of syphilis among gay men in Australia, and particularly in inner-city Sydney, has prompted a new health promotion campaign urging gay men to get tested for the disease.

Approximately 750 syphilis diagnoses were made throughout Australia in the twelve months to March 2009 with most cases occurring among gay men.

However, the actual number of infections may be considerably higher because syphilis doesn’t always present symptoms and so many cases go undiagnosed. Furthermore, research indicates that if the trend continues unchecked, syphilis notifications will increase substantially.

In response to the data, ACON – Australia’s largest community-based gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender health organisation – has helped develop a new campaign to encourage gay men to get tested for syphilis at least twice a year and to notify their partners if they have been infected. The campaign also provides information on symptoms, prevention and treatment.

With a tagline of ‘Syphilis is spreading – get tested now’, the campaign was developed in partnership with the STIs In Gay Men Action Group (STIGMA) and is closely aligned with the National Gay Men’s Syphilis Action Plan developed by National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research.

ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill says syphilis infections cause a range of specific health issues for gay men, especially gay men living with HIV. “If left untreated, syphilis can cause irreversible damage to the nerves, bones, skin, eyes and brain. It affects the immune system as well and is also associated with an increased risk of HIV transmission,” he says.

“In addition, syphilis is often asymptomatic which means people with the condition may not know that have it and may be inadvertently passing it on to other people. By getting tested at least twice a year, or by incorporating syphilis testing into regular HIV testing and monitoring, gay men can improve the health and wellbeing of themselves and our community.

“If a person tests positive for syphilis, it’s really important they tell their recent sexual partners so that they can get tested too. This can be done directly, through a clinic, or via the Whytest website (www.whytest.org) where there’s also lots of information about the prevention, testing and treatment of syphilis.”

Mr Parkhill says the campaign specifically targets gay men with HIV as well as sexually adventurous gay men, including men who have group sex. “The data indicates that these men are the most at risk so we’ll be promoting the campaign to these groups in particular as well as gay men in general.”

In NSW, the campaign will be promoted in key GLBT media, in clubs, pubs and sex on premises venues, and to GPs and other relevant clinicians.

Initially developed for NSW, the campaign is also set to go national after being endorsed by the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations and other state-based agencies specialising in HIV and gay men’s health.

Find out more

Web: Check out the campaign