'A lot of work to be done': Australia's major health win faces its next challenge
Recent data shows a 25 percent decline in HIV diagnoses in Australia over the last decade, largely attributed to high testing rates and the use of PrEP. Despite this progress, health experts warn that specific groups remain underserved and that continued effort is needed to meet 2030 global targets.
Why it matters
Provides a benchmark for successful public health policy and highlights the ongoing challenges in achieving equitable health outcomes for all demographics.
The latest Australian HIV and sexually transmitted infection data show that, overall, HIV diagnoses in Australia have fallen 25 per cent in a decade. From 2016 to 2025, there was a 28 per cent decline in HIV diagnoses among males, and no change among women, a feature of the data attributed to high rates of testing, treatment and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis medicine, known as PrEP, among men who have sex with men. Australia is a signatory to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which leads the global effort to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Currently in Australia, 94 per cent of people living with HIV have been diagnosed, 95 per cent of HIV-positive people are receiving treatment. Of that figure, 98 per cent of treatments have resulted in suppressing HIV to undetectable and virtually untransmittable levels.
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