HIV rises as men admit unprotected sex

HIV diagnoses are rising at a record rate as an increasing number of gay Australians admit having unprotected casual sex, according to two major reports.

An annual surveillance report says 1253 people were diagnosed in 2012 and around 30,000 infected people know they have the virus. But the 10 to 25 per cent of infected people who do not know their status is a challenge, says lead author, Associate Professor David Wilson of the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). “We need to focus on getting people diagnosed and initiating therapy to improve their health and reduce the risk of transmission,” says Prof Wilson, whose report will be presented at the Australasian HIV and AIDS Conference in Darwin on Monday. Another report to be presented at the conference shows close to 40 per cent of gay men admit having unprotected casual sex at least once in 2012. “We’re at the highest level recorded in our surveys of gay and bisexual men,” says lead author Associate Professor John de Wit, director of the UNSW Centre for Social Research in Health (CSRH). The biggest increase is among those aged under 25, who are less likely to have been exposed to HIV-prevention campaigns. He says about 10 per cent of gay men are HIV-positive and many do not know their status. There has been a significant increase in the proportion of HIV-positive people being treated with antiretroviral therapy, according to his report. And the treatment is working, with 93 per cent of patients having an undetectable viral load, compared with 74 per cent in 2003. “But the prevention benefits of treatment are being offset by increases in risk-taking since treatment became available,” he says. “I would not call it complacency. People know it is serious. But they take risks in the heat of the moment.” The report shows an increasing number of gay men are prepared to disclose their status to casual partners, but many do not know their status and this is unlikely to be as effective as consistent condom use. Treatment levels could be as low as 50 per cent, says Robert Mitchell, president of the National Association of People with HIV Australia. “Australia needs a new National HIV Strategy to replace the current one which is completely out of date.”

Prostate cancer patient anger at huge bills despite paying insurance

MEN with prostate cancer are being slugged with out-of-pocket expenses of up to $23,000 because Medicare and health funds don’t cover the full cost of their treatment.

A study of more than 900 men by Griffith University’s Health Institute found men were “left shocked and angry when they received huge bills even after paying insurance for 20 years”.

Even though around 70 per cent of the men in the study were private health fund members they were forced to raid their savings, ask family members for money and cut back mortgage payments to fund their treatment.

Around 20,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and at the same time as they face hefty medical bills they need to take around a month off work while they are treated. Senior researcher Dr Louisa Gordon said failure to index the Medicare rebate to health care inflation was the reason for growing out-of-pocket expenses.

Medicare rebates no longer represented the realistic cost of professional medical care and treatment, and some doctors failed to warn patients of the costs they faced, she said. “The medical system, whether public or private, needs to become a lot more transparent and informative so people can make informed choices during a stressful time,” Dr Gordon said. Health Minister Tanya Plibersek dismissed concerns about rising out-of-pocket health expenses during the election health debate claiming bulk billing figures were high.

Government data showed many out-of-pocket expenses related to band aids and condoms, she told the National Press Club. The study, however, found doctors and specialist fees for prostate treatment average $13,000 but Medicare refunded just $8,664. An online study of 289 men who received prostate treatment in the last five years found those diagnosed after January 2012 had average out-of-pocket costs of $11,077.

Labor yesterday slammed Tony Abbott’s promise to abolish the means test on private health insurance subsidies within a decade claiming it would cost $1 billion a year to restore the payments. This would mean he’d have to cut funding to the states equivalent to the cost of more than 2700 hospital beds to restore a subsidy to very high income earners, Labor claims.