Key findings
- By 31 December 2005, 22,361 diagnoses of HIV infection, 9,872 diagnoses of AIDS and 6,668 deaths following AIDS had occurred in Australia. An estimated 15,310 people were living with HIV/AIDS in Australia at the end of 2005, including around 1,100 adult/adolescent women.
- The per capita rate of diagnosis of hepatitis C infection in Australia increased to 107.2 per 100,000 population in 2000 and then declined by 40% over the past five years to 63.4 per 100,000 population in 2005.
- Chlamydia was the most frequently reported notifiable condition in Australia in 2005 with 41,311 diagnoses. The population rate of diagnosis of chlamydia has increased over fourfold in the past ten years.
- The population rate of diagnosis of gonorrhoea almost doubled over the past ten years.
- In New South Wales and Victoria, the population rate of diagnosis of infectious syphilis doubled in 2001 – 2005, almost entirely through increased numbers of cases among homosexual men. In the Northern Territory, the rate of syphilis declined by nearly 50% in 2001 – 2005.