Medical Breakthrough !

The health ministry has approved a new test to determine if people are HIV positive - and it will deliver a result in just thirty minutes as opposed to the months of waiting with the old regimen.  Getting tested is as simple as determining blood sugar levels.  It involves a simple pin prick to get results.

HIV has been a scourge on the Australian gay scene since it emerged as a " new disease " several decades ago.   It is thought that it originated in Africa, but nobody is certain how and where the link occurred that allowed it to taint human blood and lead to death from AIDS.

Since 1985, 30,000 Australians have been infected with HIV and 11,000 have gone on to develop AIDS, leading to 7,000 deaths.    It is probably a diagnosis that is feared as much as cancer.  HIV is no longer an automatic death sentence.   Drugs have been developed to treat this disease and there is hope that further down the track a cure may be possible.

At present, the best defence is caution.  The mode of transmission is usually unprotected sex, the sharing of hypodermic needles or the unsafe handling of blood from any source.   Unfortunately, the initial fear of the disease has muted and now many people are no longer using a safety regimen.

The best hope from this new, quick test is that it will induce more people to take the test - and learn that they are HIV positive sooner. Forewarned, they will be introduced to the drugs that keep the disease under control -  and they will be unlikely to unknowingly infect others.

HIV has moved from being a scourge limited to the gay scene.  It is widespread in the general community and in some countries it has cut a swathe that has resulted in big orphan communities, many of whom are also HIV positive from their birth mother.

Australia has been the lucky country when it comes to both HIV and AIDS and now there are no excuses for victims to unknowingly infect others.    If even the slightest chance of infection has occurred, a result can be obtained in just thirty minutes - and all that is required is a simple drop of blood to take that test.