Former HIV epicentre in Sydney nears end of transmission, says research

Inner Sydney district, once known for being the epicentre of the HIV pandemic in Australia, is approaching the milestone of becoming the first place in the world to reach the United Nations target for ending virus transmission, according to researchers.

UNAIDS has a goal of ending AIDS as a global health threat by 2030. This includes reducing the number of new AIDS cases by 90 per cent as compared to 2010.

New HIV infections among gay men in inner Sydney have dropped by 88 per cent between 2010 and 2022. The announcement was made by researchers on Monday (July 24) at the International AIDS Society's HIV science conference which is being held in Brisbane.

Andrew Grulich, an epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales who presented the research, told AFP that "we're very nearly there" some eight years ahead of the 2030 target.

Just 11 new HIV cases were recorded in inner Sydney last year, "an extraordinarily small number of infections for what was the heart of the Australian HIV epidemic," Grulich said.

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It is estimated that gay men make up 20 per cent of the male population in inner Sydney. They represent a large majority of HIV cases in Sydney.

According to Grulich, several areas in the UK and Western Europe have also witnessed quick drops in new HIV cases.

But "I don't think anywhere has gotten close to 90 per cent," he added.

Since Sydney has "virtually" already reached the target, that shows that it is a feasible goal, he said.

There is a 'but'

Grulich warned that the present statistics do not mean that HIV is nearly eliminated in Sydney, a city of more than 5.2 million people.

"HIV can only be eliminated if we have a vaccine and a cure," he said.

And the drop in new HIV cases was far less precipitous in other parts of Sydney.

In outer suburbs of the city, there is a decrease of just 31 per cent in the number of new cases say researchers.

This disparity was due to a much rate higher of HIV testing and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) -- which reduces the risk of transmitting HIV during sex -- in the inner city, Grulich said.

Grulich added that another cause for progress was that around 95 per cent of HIV-positivepeople in Australia are now on antiretroviral treatment, which suppresses the level of the virus in the blood.

Another study announced at the AIDS conference, which was published in The Lancet journal, said that people on antiretrovirals who have low but detectible levels of HIV have almost zero risk of sexually transmitting the virus to others.

(With inputs from agencies)

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