HIV testing — what’s new?
The story of HIV has evolved since the 1980s, with GPs playing a significant role today.
10th April 2014
Sydney's recent Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival offered a pop-up rapid HIV testing site in Oxford Street.
This state-based initiative is part of a national commitment to halve the rates of sexual transmission of HIV by 2015, which, in turn, is a consequence of Australia's signing of the UN 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.
The rapid-testing site was also evidence that the HIV story today is a very different one from that in the 1980s.
More than ever, early diagnosis is critical and Australian GPs continue to play a significant role in the story by understanding recent development in this area and actively engaging in testing for HIV, especially in the most at-risk groups.
