Australia’s HIV taskforce met in Melbourne on Friday and heard about how stigma and discrimination still have a huge effect on the lives of people living with HIV.
The meeting was Chaired by Mark Butler, the Minister for Health and Aged Care and supported by the Deputy Chair, the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney.
The new taskforce was established last year. Reporting directly to the minister, the group is charged with removing bottlenecks and driving progress to end HIV transmission.
A focus of the meeting was discussing best practice approaches to reduce the stigma associated with HIV as well as how to increase awareness of the virus and testing and treatment among key population groups.
Professor Carla Treloar, from the University of NSW, was invited to the meeting and delivered a presentation on ways to reduce the burden of stigma and discrimination associated with HIV.
Professor Treloar’s research acknowledges the impact stigma and discrimination can have on the lives of individuals and communities, and examines where and how they occur and what can be done to counter them – from the individual experience to considerations of structural factors.
The taskforce also received presentations about stigma and awareness issues in multicultural communities, and what we have learned in the area of communication in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic that could be applied in the context of reducing HIV transmission.
As part of these presentations, taskforce member and Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology, Tina Hosseini, shared her experiences from working in the Victorian COVID-19 response.
While Aaron Cogle, from the National Association of People with HIV Australia, spoke about the HIV Law Reform Priority Report prepared by the HIV/AIDS Legal Centre in NSW. The report focuses on the need to further decriminalise HIV across all Australian jurisdictions.
The next meeting of the taskforce will discuss new and emerging technologies to prevent HIV transmission. The meeting will be held on a date to be confirmed after the 12th IAS Conference on HIV Science in July.
OIP Staff
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