Fridae

Posters depicting men having safe sex will be displayed at gay "sex on premises" venues in Victoria, Australia to reinforce the safe sex message after new figures last year showed an alarming 41 per cent jump in the state's new HIV infections, according to the Melbourne Age.

The joint government/Victorian AIDS Council advertising campaign costing A$70,000 will also include distribution of 10,000 safe sex packs at gay venues.

The posters would depict men having sex with a condom illuminated by the ultra-violet ink would not be available for general distribution.

Victorian Health Minister John Thwaites said there were 198 new cases of HIV in 2000, up from 140 in 1999 while there was only a slight increase in HIV figures in Queensland and no significant increase in New South Wales.

Of those diagnosed in Victoria, 89 per cent were male, the majority being aged between 20 and 40 and most identified as homosexual or bisexual.

He also said the number of new HIV cases diagnosed in Victoria last year was the highest since 1994 and Victoria's dramatic increase in infection rates indicated safe sex warnings were losing their impact.

Gonorrhoea cases, an international indicator of unsafe sexual practices and a co-factor for HIV transmission, were also on the increase.

Mr Thwaites also revealed that A$80,000 had been allocated for a HIV case study to investigate the transmission of the virus among gay men and a code of conduct for sex on premises venues would also be reviewed.

Health experts said the increase could be due to gay men being complacent about the treatment of AIDS because new drug treatments meant the virus was no longer an automatic death sentence aswell as reduced visibility of HIV/AIDS as an issue in the community and trusting that sexual partners will take responsibility for condom use.