Australia's Response to HIV Among People Who Inject Drugs

Drug Treatment as HIV Prevention Among Women and Girls Who Inject Drugs From a Global Perspective

“…55 Low HIV prevalence among PWID is attributed to early and widespread implementation of harm reduction strategies including NSEP and OAT. 56 Women comprise approximately one-third of sentinel samples of PWID, 57 NSEP attendees, 55 and OAT clients. 58 Data from New South Wales, the most populous state and the state with the largest population of PWID, indicate that women first enter OAT at a younger age than men and are retained in treatment longer than men.…”

‘We didn’t have to dance around it’: opt-out HIV testing among homeless and marginalised patients

“…We found a very low incidence of HIV in a general practice with over 3000 vulnerable patients (many of whom likely engage in high-risk behaviours), highlighting the undeniable achievements in HIV prevention in Australia. New HIV infections peaked in Australia in 1987 and decreased steadily until 1999 (The Kirby Institute 2014), largely due to the success of needle syringe programs, preventing an explosion of infections among injecting drug users (Madden and Wodak 2014). Decriminalisation of the sex industry and empowerment of sex workers has also contributed to Australia's low HIV prevalence (Bates and Berg 2014).…”

Responding to HIV/AIDS: Mobilisation through partnerships in a public health crisis

“…People who inject drugs were also a key group during the early phase of the epidemic; however, due to the high stigmatisation of drug use, mobilisation of this group occurred slightly later than action within the gay and sex work communities. Community mobilisation developed alongside the adoption of harm minimisation as the official national drug policy in 1985 (Madden and Wodak 2014). Gay organisations provided models to drug-user groups around advocacy and mobilisation to fight HIV/AIDS, enabling them to make a significant contribution to Australia's response to HIV (Madden and Wodak 2014).…”

“…Community mobilisation developed alongside the adoption of harm minimisation as the official national drug policy in 1985 (Madden and Wodak 2014). Gay organisations provided models to drug-user groups around advocacy and mobilisation to fight HIV/AIDS, enabling them to make a significant contribution to Australia's response to HIV (Madden and Wodak 2014). They advocated for harmreduction drug policies and education, established peer education and needle exchange programs and fought for free and non-judgemental access to sterile injecting equipment and accurate information about HIV.…”