John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Higgins for bringing forward this debate today. I speak about medical marvels a lot in this chamber. Representing the innovation capital of Australia makes that an easy thing to do. Local companies are vaccinating us against COVID and other diseases, curing heart conditions and consigning many deadly diseases to history. It's an incredibly exciting time to be alive, and it's the best part of Australia to represent.

One of the areas we have had stupendous improvements in is the area of AIDS. Not long ago HIV/AIDS was terrifying. It seemed to strike without warning, taking healthy young people rapidly. There was no cure. The grim reaper ads are still a vivid reminder of the fear of those days. It was all the more shocking because its victims—young people, healthy people, people with their whole lives ahead of them—were taken by this insidious disease. Everybody knew someone who was affected. Tackling this disease took incredible resources, vigilance and teamwork. By working together, the world dragged this disease into the light. In 30 years it has gone from a disease that people will die from to one you might die with in many years time.

Looking at where we were with it in the eighties, it is miraculous that we have come this far this quickly. Now, in Australia, we have the results to show for all our hard work. Overall HIV transmissions continue their long-term trend of decrease in Australia. In 2019, 90 per cent of the 29,045 people suspected to be living with HIV in Australia have been tested and diagnosed with HIV. Of those diagnosed, 91 per cent were on treatment and, of those on treatment, 97 per cent had an undetectable viral load.

Because working on this requires a global push, the UN has become involved and set ambitious targets to fight HIV. They have created a high-level task force which has set the following targets to reduce annual new HIV infections to under 370,000 and annual AIDS related deaths to under 250,000 by 2025, ending paediatric AIDS and eliminating all forms of AIDS related stigma and discrimination and to achieve the 95-95-95 testing, treatment and viral suppression targets within all demographic groups and geographic settings.

I'm proud to say Australia continues to be a world leader in the elimination of HIV. Australia has achieved the 2020 HIV limitation targets set by UNAIDS and we are working hard to meet the 2025 UNAIDS targets. These are ambitious targets, and we still have work to do in this area. In particular, the overall reduction of HIV has not been seen in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and for overseas-born gay and bisexual men there was a three per cent increase in HIV notification. The government continues to support efforts to eliminate HIV and to support people living with HIV and working closely with the sector.

Australia's role in this global push is highly commendable. This year Australia, together with Namibia, cofacilitated the United Nations meeting and we have been strong in ensuring that critical issues like comprehensive education of sexual and reproductive health and rights for adolescents and young people are addressed. We have got there through hard work and diligence but also through technology and testing, and tracing and treatment medications have all been game changers over the past two decades.

We have come a long, long way on this front. But it's exciting to note that there are still improvements being made to these treatments. Just in February the Therapeutic Goods Administration registered the first prolonged release injectable HIV treatment for use in Australia. Injectable HIV treatments have several benefits for the patient, removing the need for daily tablets—the bright present leading to an even brighter future for everyone diagnosed with HIV.

I'm still amazed by the turnaround in fortunes for people with this condition. The defining feature of HIV in the eighties was fear and uncertainty. Now it's optimism. This change cannot be understated. It also shows that we can do whatever we set our minds to fixing when we work together towards a common goal. We're seeing it today with COVID as well. When we work together with focus, we can achieve anything that we set our minds to.

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