29 November 2007

 

AMA Victoria is calling for better sex education in Victorian schools to raise awareness of rising HIV/AIDS infection rates across the state.

 

“HIV/AIDS is still a serious disease with no cure, so awareness and prevention is the only defence. Improving sex education in our schools is a good place to start,” AMA Victoria President, Dr Doug Travis said. 

 

“World AIDS Day is telling us ‘Prevention is everybody’s business’ — this means adolescents as well. We need to be teaching our pre-teens and teenagers about sexual health, including the importance of preventing HIV/AIDS.

 

 “We need to talk about condoms, we need to talk about poor choices made under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and we need to talk about the need for young people to keep themselves safe and to protect others.

 

“Sex education is the vital first step to prevention. Sex education can reduce teenage pregnancies, reduce unwanted sex, and reduce the rate of sexual transmitted inflections including HIV.

 

“HIV/AIDS does not just affect particular sections of the community, it affects men and women of all ages and demographics, both locally and internationally.”

 

In Victoria, rates of newly diagnosed HIV infection rose from 4.5 per 100 000 population in 2002 to 5.6 in 2006.

 

The annual number of new HIV diagnoses in Australia has gradually increased over the past seven years, following a long-term decline.

 

World AIDS Day, 1 December 2007, is an initiative of the World Health Organisation and aims to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS as a local and global issue.