People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are Living Longer Lives

Since the start of the HIV epidemic in this country in the early 1980s, over 24,000 people have been infected with HIV, over 10,000 diagnosed with AIDS and almost 7,000 deaths have occurred as a result of the disease. Today over 17,000 Australians are living with HIV (most of whom are gay men), with that number continually increasing by around 1,000 each year. The advent of anti-retroviral therapies (ART) in 1996 has meant that HIV/AIDS has changed from a life-threatening to a chronic illness. This has meant that PLWHA are now living longer and consequently have specific health and wellbeing needs that must be addressed by the health system.

Access to Adequate Dental Care

One of the most important health issues for PLWHA is access to adequate dental care, given that the vast majority of people with HIV will develop at least one oral condition associated with HIV disease. These conditions, like candidiasis and hairy leukoplakia, may be the first indication of immune suppression associated with HIV infection and in many people are the first signals that lead doctors to encourage HIV testing. Many of the conditions are eminently treatable but treatment is reliant on the sort of regular dental checkups/professional interventions that are increasingly difficult for HIV positive people to access and sustain due to a lack of Commonwealth funding for public dental health care.

HIV Medication in Community Settings

The current regime for the distribution of specialist HIV medication in Australia (listed as s100 drugs) is through a limited number of specialised settings such as hospitals and select pharmacies. Such a regime places burden on PLWHA who in most cases must travel significant distances and wait for a considerable amount of time before receiving their medication. Allowing HIV medication to be distributed through community pharmacies will be an important step in alleviating some of the stress that PLWHA must go through in order to access their treatments.

Improving PLWHA's Health and Wellbeing

The changing nature of the lives of PLWHA in Australia means that the Commonwealth must effectively respond to a range of issues including, but not limited to, access to adequate dental care and HIV medication. The Commonwealth's response should include:

• Ensuring that low-income PLWHA have adequate access to dental health services for HIV-specific as well as general oral health care
• Putting in place processes to allow HIV positive patients to obtain their specialist medication in community settings (such as local pharmacies) rather than having to attend a hospital or special clinic for this purpose
• Maintaining Australia's commitment to National HIV and STI strategies, that places affected communities & PLWHA at the centre of the response to the epidemic and continue to prioritise HIV treatment as part of the response.