Each year, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Program collaborates with the Surveillance and Evaluation Program for Public Health on the “Bloodborne viral and sexually transmitted infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: Surveillance and Evaluation Report”.
This surveillance report provides information on the occurrence of blood borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia for the purposes of stimulating and supporting discussion on ways forward in minimising the transmission risks, as well as the personal and social consequences of these infections within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The report is produced in a format that is recognised as appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services and communities, and is overseen by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus Advisory Committee.
Key findings
- Chlamydia and gonorrhoea continue to be reported at disproportionately high rates among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.
- Diagnoses of infectious syphilis increased in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in 2011, particularly in Queensland and among 15 – 19 year olds.
- Remote and very remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities continue to experience substantially higher rates of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and infectious syphilis compared with regional and urban centres in Australia.
- HIV infection continues to be diagnosed at a similar rate to that in the non‑Indigenous population although there are substantial differences in the distributions of HIV exposure categories.
- Diagnoses of newly diagnosed hepatitis C infection and newly acquired hepatitis B infection are reported at disproportionately high rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
