Victorian Department of Health reports drop in new diagnoses of HIV and syphilis in 2010

The Victorian Department of Health has released 2010 figures for HIV and syphilis in
the Victorian Infectious Diseases Bulletin (“VIDB”)(Vol 14, Issue 1, March 2011)
mailed to subscribers this week and available online at
www.health.vic.gov.au/ideas/surveillance/vidb.
HIV
The Department reported that there were 228 new diagnoses of HIV in 2010
compared to 262 in 2009. The 2010 total was the lowest number of new HIV
diagnoses in a calendar year since 2004 and 13% less than the 2009 total. 91% of
the new diagnoses were in males in 2010 compared to 92% in 2009. 84% (n=174) of
total new diagnoses were in gay men and other men who have sex with men
compared to 80% (n=193) in 2009.
In 2010 the median age of males diagnosed with HIV was 38 years compared to
36.4 years in 2009, and the median age of women was 34.4 years compared to 32.2
years in 2009. Among gay men and other men who have sex with men, the median
age was 36.1 years, similar to the median age reported in 2009 (35.9 years).
Syphilis
The total number of infectious syphilis cases for 2010 was 267 which was a 32%
decrease on the number of notified cases in 2009 (n=391). The VIDB provides
further demographic breakdowns only for the fourth quarter of 2010 however a
significant proportion of the notifications were in gay men and other men who have
sex with men.
Mike Kennedy, the Executive Director at the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s
Health Centre, said today that the figures were welcome news and a sign that new
HIV diagnoses may be declining after relatively stable figures since 2006. “These
figures are a tribute to the thousands of HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay men who,
30 years into this epidemic, are caring for themselves and their sexual partners, by
reducing their HIV risks and testing regularly for STIs”, Mr Kennedy said.

“The added investment in HIV prevention by the previous government, which had
been continued by the current government, and improved relationships between the
Department of Health and the HIV sector had also contributed to an enabling
environment to increase HIV testing and STI testing and treatment to drive down the
number of new diagnoses”, he said.