Australia’s rate of new HIV infections rose nearly 50 percent during the past eight years, bringing the country’s incidence to a 14-year high, Bloomberg reports.
A report released September 17 by Australia’s National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research shows that men who have sex with men (MSM) made up 70 percent of those newly infected in the five years through 2007.
According to the article, experts attribute these new infections to safe-sex campaigns’ failure to influence this group, particularly since antiretroviral treatments have significantly reduced deaths from AIDS and condom use no longer seems like a matter of life and death.
Among cases newly reported last year in Australia, one in 10 was diagnosed overseas, with the rate of infection being five times higher among people living in Australia born in sub-Saharan Africa compared to those born in the country.
NEW! Scroll down to comment on this story.
Please click OK to confirm your comment and confirm you accept our posting rules. Note your message will be reviewed by our staff before going live.
"I'm HIV positive and diabetic (as well as have high cholesterol) and some of my meds specify taking them with 'high fat foods' which I have to do twice a day. I've eaten as healthy as possible, but when it comes to high fat foods, I am in a quandary...about what to eat sometimes..."
