It is the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day commemorations as the HIV community gets ready for a range of activities and gatherings in the week leading up to December 1 (now called World AIDS Awareness Week) to remember those we have lost to the virus and to recognise the impact it is still having on millions around the world, including in Australia.

Sex worker rights group Scarlet Alliance expressed outrage at the sentencing of sex worker Hector Scott for two months and four days under the ACT Prostitution Control Act in September.

On September 16, the Senate blocked the Federal Government’s bill to remove the Enhanced Primary Care Dental Scheme for chronic conditions for a second time.

In a submission to the federal government’s review of pensions and the tax system, NAPWA has made a plea for urgent action to be taken on the rate of pensions and concession entitlements as they affect people with HIV.

People with HIV wishing to travel to the US for up to 30 days are now permitted to do so providing they apply for a visa from their local US consulate.

NAPWA President Robert Mitchell has called for clarification from the Federal Government of media reports on plans to require HIV tests for people coming into Australia under the proposed Pacific Islander guest worker scheme.

At the opening plenary of the 20th Australasian Society of HIV Medicine (ASHM) Conference in Perth on July 17-20, the Presidents of ASHM, AFAO and NAPWA all condemned recent trends by governments around the world to criminalise the transmission of HIV.

Unlike many diseases that have disappeared with the advent of HAART, anal cancer has not, with rates in HIV-positive gay men now sitting at 1 in 1000, which is greater than rates of cervical cancer.

Recent results from studies of some of newer antiretrovirals were presented at ASHM. Here’s a brief summary.

The UK’s InSIGHT study initially investigated why men between the ages of 35-44 years accounted for over a third of all new diagnoses of HIV in 2006 produced findings about HIV seroconversion among older gay men and why they had practised unprotected anal intercourse.

Professor Pietro Vernazza, President of the Swiss Federal Commission on AIDS wasinvited by ASHM to Australia to debate the statement as part of a panel.

Abacavir should be avoided by people who are in the high cardiovascular risk group.

Associate Professor Jeffrey Klausner, Director of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention and Control Services in San Francisco gave some disturbing news of the effects of regular use of methamphetamine (ice) by men who have sex with men.

The use of Viagra (sildenafil citrate) and other sexuopharmaceuticals was the subject of a paper presented at ASHM.

Presentations at ASHM reviewed data on male circumcision as an HIV prevention tool from the disciplines of epidemiology, mathematical modelling, health economics, and public health interventions.

In recognition that we are starting to see a 'greying' of the epidemic, the ASHM conference this year presented a plenary session on HIV and ageing and there was an unprecedented coverage of material around the issue.

Daniel Reeders has done shifts for the Connect Line information and referral phone service run by PLWHA Victoria in Melbourne. One night he received a particularly thought-provoking call…

If there is one issue that all HIV-positive people have to deal with, regardless of their level of health or whether they are on treatments or not, it’s sex. This article looks at the impact of HIV and HIV treatments on our sexual lives.

Your chance to ask an HIV-experienced doctor about any medical query you might have. We are grateful to Dr Louise Owen, medical director of the Centre Clinic in St Kilda, who will be answering your questions.

In times of significant change there are often many hard questions to answer. In the case of HIV, the footprints to public health understanding begin in epidemiology.