Two groundbreaking new treatments for chronic hepatitis C (HCV) will now be subsidised through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), the Federal Government announced this week.

The manual used by US psychiatrists to diagnose mental illness no longer lists transgender as a ‘disorder’.

The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisation (AFAO) has this week called for a three pronged approach of testing, treatment and targets to help achieve the goals of the UN Political Declaration on HIV, as peak AIDS organisations joined the Department of Health in rejecting criticisms that Australia’s HIV reporting regime was severely lacking. 

One Sydney scholar taking part at a prestigious university thesis presentation competition this week will discuss HIV research and the ethics of handing placebos to trial participants when for many of those involved such studies may be a very real matter of life and death.

Melbourne will host the 13th International Union against Sexually Transmitted Infections (IUSTI) World Congress.

Advocates for gay Christians and others have said the “completely outrageous” actions of a Sydney doctor and member of the controversial Exclusive Brethren Christian sect to “cure” a young gay man of his homosexuality by chemically castrating him should serve as a reminder to the community about the dangers of so-called reparative therapy.

Participants are still required for a groundbreaking national research project which will determine whether HIV treatment reduces the risk of HIV transmission within serodiscordant gay relationships, where one partner is HIV-positive and the other HIV-negative.

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek has committed to learning more about rapid HIV testing as she prepares to fly out for the AIDS 2012 Conference taking place in Washington D.C from next week.

Australian authorities have been called upon to immediately begin trials and licensing of HIV prevention medication Truvada after the drug was approved for use in the United States.

After the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) last week approved the use of the first over-the-counter home testing kit for HIV, a number of leading local HIV/AIDS organisations have shared their frustration over a lack of progress on the local introduction of new technologies such as rapid HIV testing.

A new rapid test that can detect HIV in saliva has been welcomed by local health workers with cautious optimism.

The AIDS epidemic could be nearing an end within five years “if countries invest smartly”, with medical advances and increased political will helping make the vision of no new HIV infections or AIDS-related deaths a real possibility, according to the UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report 2011 released this week.