Key findings
- By 31 December 2008, 28,330 diagnoses of HIV infection, 10,348 diagnoses of AIDS and 6,765 deaths following AIDS had occurred in Australia. An estimated 17,444 people including 12,053 people aged 15 – 49 years were living with HIV infection in Australia at the end of 2008.
- The per capita rate of diagnosis of hepatitis C infection in Australia declined by 18% over the past five years to 53.2 per 100,000 population in 2008.
- Chlamydia was the most frequently reported notifiable condition in Australia in 2008 with 58,456 reported diagnoses. The population rate of diagnosis of chlamydia in 2008 was 270 per 100,000 population, a 10% increase over the rate in 2007, continuing the increase seen over the past ten years.
- The population rate of diagnosis of gonorrhoea was stable in 2004 – 2008 at 36 per 100,000 population.
- The rate of diagnosis of infectious syphilis doubled from 3.1 in 2004 to 6.8 in 2007 and declined to 6.1 in 2008. These increases largely occurred among men who have sex with men.