There was a 30 per cent increase in new HIV diagnoses reported in Australia last year, the UNSW Kirby Institute reports.
Despite the 722 new diagnoses in 2023 compared to 553 in 2022, the long-term trend is still downward and down on new diagnoses before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, HIV diagnoses have reduced by 33 per cent over the last decade, while diagnoses among Australian-born gay and bisexual men have been reduced by 64 per cent over the same period, the institute said.
"These long-term reductions tell us our strategies to eliminate HIV transmission – such as testing, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and treatment – are working," said Dr Skye McGregor, lead of the surveillance innovation group at the Kirby Institute.
The latest figures take into account data up to 2023 and not any figures from 2024.
"The increase in 2023, compared to COVID pandemic years, is likely associated with the resumption of pre-COVID sexual behaviours, testing and the movement of people in and out of the country," said McGregor. "However, encouragingly, new diagnoses are still lower than pre-pandemic levels, and there is no interruption to our long-term trend of decline."
Despite the long-term decline in HIV diagnoses, there is some concern, however, about the slight increase in the number of people living with HIV acquired through heterosexual sex over the decade.
“While these are only small increases, when viewed against a backdrop of declines overall, this highlights where we need to focus additional efforts over the next decade,” McGregor said.
In a positive for health authorities, McGregor said it was pleasing to see HIV testing numbers were up for 2023, after declines during the pandemic.
However, the data found that over a third of people living with HIV were late to find out about their positive status, meaning that they may have been living with the virus for four or more years without knowing while potentially transmitting it to others.
Among heterosexual people living with the virus, more than half of those diagnosed had late-stage HIV.
“The number of late diagnoses is very concerning," said McGregor.
"We need to increase access to testing, treatment and prevention in a targeted and equitable way, to ensure those most in need can easily access services."
Most new HIV diagnoses continue to be among gay and bisexual men in Australia, figures which include all gay and bisexual men whether Australian-born or otherwise. But even among this group, it is down 43 per cent over the past 10 years.
Much of this is driven by overseas-born gay and bisexual men, where there has been a small 4 per cent increase, according to Professor Andrew Grulich, head of the HIV epidemiology and prevention program at the Kirby Institute.
“We have the strategies and technologies to eliminate HIV transmission in Australia. But we need to make sure PrEP and other prevention strategies are reaching the populations that most need them, including gay and bisexual men who were born overseas," Grulich said.
On Tuesday, Gay Sydney News reported that Australia was facing a PrEP shortage. The situation is expected to be resolved when more supply arrives within the coming months.
Eliot Hastie is a senior news producer at Channel Ten, reporting on a range of general stories, specialising in foreign affairs and LGBTQ+ stories. He’s also a reporter for Gay Sydney News, where he covers LGBTQIA+ culture, politics and nightlife. He previously helped to build and launch ausbiz, Australia's only live streaming finance news channel, where he was also an executive producer and host. He has previously worked as a finance and business journalist for publications including Fintech Business, Real Estate Business and other Momentum Media titles. Eliot holds a journalism degree from the University of Westminster and brings experience in both broadcast and digital reporting. Contact Eliot: [email protected]
