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On Sunday, Queensland officials
announced a decision to cut $2.5 million (US $2.47 million) in funding to
Healthy Communities, saying the LGBT service’s HIV prevention initiatives are
not effective. New infections in the state have risen by 50 percent in the last
year. Health Minister Lawrence Springborg said an advisory committee will be
established to help guide outreach efforts.
Dr. Richard Kidd, president of the
Australian Medical Association Queensland, could not say whether pulling funds
from Healthy Communities was the correct decision, but the doubling of new
diagnoses requires a rethinking of prevention approaches in the state. “If we
just keep doing what we’ve always done we’re just going to get the same result,
and at the moment that result is that it’s increased by 50 percent,” he noted.
“What I’m pushing for is more
funding quite urgently to go into looking quite quickly but comprehensively at
why we’re seeing this increase,” Kidd said.
Healthy Communities Executive
Director Paul Martin questioned Springborg’s move, saying he did not consult
Queensland Health in cutting support to the service. A ministerial spokesperson
rejected that claim. “It [the funding cut] has been done with the full
consultation under the department’s guidance,” said the spokesperson.
A rally to protest the cut is
planned for May 30 in Brisbane.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
