A summary of the epidemic in Australia

Asia and the Pacific

The Global picture

Australian social research

This page last updated 25 November 2009.

Australia

In the year to 31 December 2008* there were:

• 995 diagnoses of HIV infection
• Up to 31 December 2008, the cumulative number of HIV infections in Australia was estimated at 28,330, and the cumulative number of AIDS diagnoses was 10,348. 6,765 deaths following AIDS had occurred. An estimated 17,444 people were living with HIV/AIDS in Australia in 2008.
• 82% of all new HIV transmissions in Australia in the year to 31 December 2008 were acquired through sexual contact between men.

Source: National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR), Australian Annual Surveillance Report 2009.

* Data for the previous calendar year is released in August/september each year. No more recent data is available.

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Asia and the Pacific

• In Asia an estimated 4.7 million people were living with HIV in 2008 and an estimated 330,000 people died of AIDS-realted illnesses.
• India accounts for roughly half of Asia's HIV prevalence.
• While the epidemic appears to be stable thorughout most of the region, prevalence is increasing in some areas, such as Bangladesh and Pakistan.

• Source: UNAIDS Epidemic Update 2009 - Asia Factsheet

Oceania

• In 2008, 3,900 new HIV infections occurred in the Oceania region, bringing the total number of people living with HIV to 59,000.
• The majority of infections in this region are in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Australia and New Zealand. Excluding Australia and New Zealand, PNG accounted for more than 99% of reported HIV cases in the region in 2007.

Source: UNAIDS Epidemic Update 2009 - Oceania Fact Sheet

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The global picture

In 2008:

• 33.4 million people were estimated to be living with HIV, of whom 2.1 million were children under 15 years.
• 2 million people died of AIDS-related conditions, of whom 430,000 million were children under 15 years.
• 2.7 million people became newly infected with HIV.
• As of December 2008 approximately 4 million people in low and middle income countries were on antiretroviral therapy.

Source: UNAIDS Epidemic Update 2009

Also of interest:

HIV InSite Country and Regions Pages A source of regularly updated international HIV/AIDS information, including global and regional HIV/AIDS overviews, as well as 194 individual country pages and a database of epidemiological and socioeconomic data.

http://www.youthandhiv.org/ Information about young people and HIV/AIDS.

http://womenandaids.unaids.org/ The Global Coalition on Women and AIDS.

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Australian social research

If you are seeking personal accounts by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), about how their lives are affected by this condition, see the Personal Stories on this website.

If you are seeking information about how the law affects the lives of PLWHA, check out the Policy section of this website.

If you are seeking a social analysis of HIV/AIDS in Australia, the links below may be helpful:

The National Centre in HIV Social Research (NCHSR) conducts a variety of social research, including research into:

• the impact of HIV on people with a positive HIV diagnosis;
• issues and concerns of PLWHA;
• sexual and drug taking behaviour that carries a risk of HIV;
• trends in gay community behaviour and attitudes relating to sex (periodic surveys).

The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society (ARCSHS) undertakes research into social and behavioural aspects of sexually transmissible diseases, their prevention and consequences.

ARCSHS conducts the HIV Futures Survey, a large scale survey of people living with HIV/AIDS. The survey enables researchers to examine Australian trends among a large sample of PLWHA on a range of issues, including health, treatments, poverty, employment and relationships.

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