“ACON welcomes the release of the 2016 HIV notification data by the NSW Ministry of Health on the eve of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
What is interesting to note – importantly for the LGBTI community in 2016 – is that gay men and men who have sex with men made up 259 of the total 317 new diagnoses. This is eight per cent less than the average annual new diagnoses count for these men over the 2010 to 2015 period.
ACON and a range of other partners have been working hard to design, build and deliver new responses to HIV, in a strong collaboration with the NSW Government. This shift in approach and the adoption of a range of new systems and technologies appears to be impacting on HIV transmissions, which is very affirming.
The 2016 data also indicates that earlier diagnosis through increased testing, greater reach and uptake of treatment, and the scale up of PrEP are all contributing to changing the prevention landscape here in NSW.
We now have a more comprehensive range of evidence-based prevention technologies available to gay men, the population group at most risk of HIV transmission, and that’s incredibly exciting.
By using these new technologies through an integrated and combined approach, we’re extremely hopeful that the HIV transmission data will continue to trend downward, and we’ll move closer to our goal of virtually ending HIV transmission in NSW by 2020.
Of course, these new technologies are only good if they’re used by the people for whom they’re designed. Gay men in NSW have consistently shown that they’re committed to ending HIV and have adopted the use of these new technologies as soon as they have become accessible. ACON salutes gay men, both HIV positive and HIV negative, for their commitment and action to end HIV transmission and we remain steadfast in our commitment to further driving down infection rates.” – ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill.
A full copy of the NSW HIV Strategy 2016 – 2020 Annual 2016 Data Report can be found at: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/endinghiv/Pages/tools-and-data.aspx
ENDS
For more information please contact:
David Alexander, ACON Media and Communications Officer
E: dalexander@acon.org.au T: +61 (02) 9206 2044 M: +61 (0)428 477 042