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Thorne Harbour Country provides support, counselling, rapid HIV testing, resources and information around LGBTIQ+ wellbeing, HIV, Hepatitis C and sexual health across the Loddon Mallee. Operating out of the Community Hub, Thorne Harbour Country provides a safe place for the LGBTIQ+ community to connect and access information resources and referral services.

PRONTO! is a sexual health service for men who have sex with men and trans & gender diverse people.

For over 18 years and 900 episodes, Well, Well, Well has been broadcasting on JOY 94.9 - Australia's out and proud community radio station. On air every Thursday night from 9PM, Well Well Well focuses on the health and wellbeing of our LGBTIQA+ and PLHIV communities.

The Victorian AIDS Council (VAC) along with the Centre for Social Research in Health (CSRH) and the Kirby Institute at UNSW will be conducting the Melbourne Gay Community Periodic Survey (MGCPS) during the first week of the Midsumma Festival, this annual survey takes a snapshot of sexual practices men who have sex with other men in relation to the transmission of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.From Sunday 14 January at the 2018 Midsumma Carnival Day through Sunday 21 January, gay and bisexual men who have sex with men (MSM) will be asked to participate in the survey at a range of locations across Melbourne, including medical clinics, social venues such as pubs and bars, and sex-on-premises venues. Only Melbourne men who have had sex with another man in the past five years should complete a survey form, as well as men who don’t live in Melbourne but who regularly participate in the Melbourne gay community. The survey is completely anonymous, and the results are communicated later in the year via LGBTI and other media, through public meetings and seminars, in online reports, and through journal articles.First conducted in Melbourne in 1998, the short survey takes a snapshot of gay men’s sexual practices related to the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. The survey is important because it gives a snapshot of the lives of gay and homosexually active men in Melbourne from year to year. It allows comparisons to be made over time and for a picture to emerge of the changes in sexual practices and partnering habits, drug use, HIV and STI rates, and testing habits.The Periodic Survey is also conducted in other states during gay community festivals so that comparisons can be drawn between states. Data from the surveys are used to form local and national sexual health promotion campaigns and education strategies.“All same-sex attracted guys are welcome to complete this annual survey — gay, bi, trans and non-binary both HIV negative and HIV Positive,” said the survey’s Victorian coordinator, VAC’s Tex McKenzie.“New questions added this year include adding the gender assigned at birth and a question asking if participants have been vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B. And not all questions need to be answered by everyone; there are specific questions for men who are living with HIV as well as general questions that everyone can answer.”VAC CEO Simon Ruth added: “The Periodic Survey is an important piece of research that helps us target not only campaigns around HIV and STI-prevention, but around mental health issues and alcohol and drug use in our community as well.”“The data we gather from the survey over time is an invaluable resource for both state-based and national campaigns.”

Thorne Harbour Health, Living Positive Victoria, and Positive Women Victoria have released HIV and AIDS Priorities – a document that recommends 27 actions to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV and to build upon Victoria’s HIV targets, prevention, testing, and treatment efforts.HIV and AIDS Priorities also covers areas of stigma and discrimination, tobacco use amongst people living with HIV, and HIV-related law reform.Victoria’s major parties will have the opportunity to respond to the call at an event hosted at Thorne Harbour Health’s Positive Living Centre tonight (Tuesday 23 October 2018). Victoria’s record of action to reduce HIV transmissions and to support people with HIV should be enhanced through growing what works well and adding several new initiatives.Victoria’s three key community-controlled organisations working on HIV, Thorne Harbour Health, Living Positive Victoria, and Positive Women Victoria, have developed HIV and AIDS Priorities to help guide the next Victorian Government’s policy responses and continue to advance Victoria’s enviable record of support and action.Advances in treatment have made it possible to effectively suppress HIV replication and for people living with HIV to live normal lifespans. A sustained undetectable viral load eliminates the risk of HIV transmission, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is also being used as an effective prevention measure. In order to fully capitalise on these advances, better prevent HIV, and improve the lives of people living with HIV, accessible and timely testing and diagnosis is required for all Victorians who may be at risk of HIV alongside access to treatment, care, and support. Thorne Harbour Health CEO Simon Ruth said, “Victoria’s sexual health service infrastructure has failed to keep up with the state’s population growth and is impeding our efforts to effectively tackle HIV and high rates of other STIs.”“We need to look for ways to expand our prevention and treatment service systems through GPs and Hospitals across Victoria. PEP should be available at every hospital and cost barriers to treatment should be removed.”Living Positive Victoria CEO Richard Keane said, “Victoria also requires action to end HIV-related stigma and discrimination. Anti-stigma campaigns should be funded, and family and peer support programs should be developed and extended. Unnecessary HIV disclosure should be discouraged through new guidelines.”Positive Women Victoria Executive Officer Kirsty Machon said, “Victorian women require a specific focus, to ensure that health promotion messages and prevention programs are having an impact, that testing rates for women are increased through targeted and appropriate outreach and the education of health care providers, and that all women are diagnosed in a timely manner, accessing the treatment they need, and with referral to support and services.”Click here to read HIV and AIDS Priorities.

Thorne Harbour Health’s long-running Drama Downunder health campaign has hit the streets with a focus on quarterly sexual health testing and featuring a diverse range of models from the local community. First launched in 2008, the Drama Downunder has been reminding gay men and other men who have sex with men to look after their sexual health and wellbeing for over a decade. While the campaign has continued to reinvent itself from year-to-year, last year saw a signficant change when the campaign introduced seven new faces from the community. “The Drama Downunder has been our flagship health promotion campaign for thirteen years and the inclusion a diverse range of faces and body types has been incredibly well received,” said Thorne Harbour Health Acting CEO Carolyn Gillespie.“Now with an amazing line up of models from our communities, we’re revisiting one of our more popular campaigns to remind folks that with every new season it’s time to get a sexual health test.”Focused on encouraging quarterly sexual health screening, the original ‘seasons’ iteration of the campaign was released in Victoria in 2015. The campaign went on to run in South Australia before being adapted for the Northern Territory AIDS and Hepatitis Council and feature Aboriginal rugby league footballer Casey Conway. The latest Drama Downunder campaign revisits the four seasons with a different pair of models featured in summer, autumn, winter, and spring.Carolyn Gillespie added, “As COVID restrictions around gatherings have eased, our communities are adapting to a new normal. We want to ensure this includes continuing to look after their sexual health and wellbeing.”The latest campaign is running now through June 2021. For more, head to: www.thedramadownunder.info

In the lead up to World AIDS Day 2021, Victoria records its lowest quarterly total of HIV diagnoses in 20 years. While likely impacted by the restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, Thorne Harbour Health emphasises the ongoing need for HIV testing.Last week Victoria’s Department of Health reported 34 news cases of HIV for the third quarter of 2021, bringing the January to September total to 120 cases. Thorne Harbour CEO Simon Ruth welcomes the news.

SAMESH, a partnership between SHINE SA and Thorne Harbour Health, has launched CONNECT – a pilot program evaluating the use of vending machines to dispense free Atomo HIV Self-Test (HST) kits to support rapid HIV testing and to strengthen pathways to treatment and support.With five initial locations around Adelaide, CONNECT is the first federally-funded project of its kind in Australia, building on similar projects implemented in the USA, the UK, and New Zealand.To access a free HIV self-test kit, users scan a QR code located on promotional materials and/or the vending machines themselves. This will take them to a webpage where they will be asked to provide basic information about age, place of birth, sexuality, and testing history. Once the basic information is completed, they can then access a kit by scanning the QR code on the vending machine of their choice.The target groups for the CONNECT pilot project include gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) incuding non-English speaking backgrounds, such as international students. CONNECT’s five vending machines are located at university campuses and community venues around Adelaide.These priority groups currently experience multiple barriers to HIV testing, including: cost, time, privacy, stigma, and discrimination. CONNECT provides easy access to free HIV self-tests via vending machines placed in discrete and safe locations with an aim to directly address these barriers.“As we draw closer and closer to ending new HIV transmissions in Australia, we need innovative initiatives like CONNECT to reach those populations that have been long considered ‘hard-to-reach’,” said Thorne Harbour Health CEO Simon Ruth.

Today Thorne Harbour Health, Living Positive Victoria, and Positive Women Victoria have released HIV & AIDS Priorities - a document that recommends 38 actions to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV (PLHIV) and to build upon Victoria’s ongoing response to HIV.