Key findings
- After adjustment for reporting delay, 9,380 AIDS cases and 6,372 deaths following AIDS were notified in Australia, cumulative to 31 December 2003. The number of HIV diagnoses, adjusted for multiple reporting, was 20,580 at the end of 2003. An estimated 13,630 people were living with HIV/AIDS in Australia in 2003, including around 1,100 adult/adolescent women with diagnosed HIV infection.
- The per capita rate of new diagnoses of hepatitis C infection has declined from a peak of 103.4 (19,487 cases) in 2000 to 74.5 per 100,000 population (14,499 cases) in 2003. The reported number of diagnoses of newly acquired hepatitis C infection has remained stable at around 460 cases per year.
- Chlamydia was the most frequently reported notifiable condition in Australia in 2003 with 30,193 diagnoses. The population rate of diagnosis of chlamydia increased from 76.1 (14,082 cases) in 1999 to 160.7 per 100,000 in 2003.
- The population rate of diagnosis of gonorrhoea increased from 30.0 (5,587 cases) in 1999 to 34.6 per 100,000 population (6,611 cases) in 2003.
- The population rate of diagnosis of syphilis decreased, from 9.6 (1,821 cases) in 1999 to 8.9 per 100,000 population (1,768 cases) in 2003. In New South Wales and Victoria, the rate of diagnosis of newly acquired syphilis among males increased from 1.4 and 0.4 per 100,000 population in 2001 to 6.4 and 2.0 per 100,000 population, respectively, in 2003.