ACON HIV Action Plan: Reducing HIV Transmission in NSW

The ACON HIV Action Plan is an Australian campaign aimed at reducing HIV transmission among gay, bisexual, and other men who engage in sexual activities with their fellow men. The campaign was launched in 2013 with the objective of reducing the transmission of HIV in NSW by 80% in 2020 through educating, informing, and supporting the target audience. The campaign has been successful in increasing rates of testing and diagnosis, and has seen a 24% reduction in HIV prevalence among the target group in New South Wales. The campaign uses a variety of communication strategies, including visual adverts, radio, and social media, to educate people on safe sexual practices and the importance of testing. The campaign is funded by the New South Wales Government and is supported by various organizations, including the National Association of People Living with AIDS and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations.

Reproductive and Sexual Health
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Reproductive and sexual Health
NAME OF THE CAMPAIGN: ACON HIV ACTION PLAN is the name of the campaign.
VENUE AND TIME: This is an Australian based campaign that was initiated back in 2013.It is
funded by the New South Wales and the contract runs until 2020.
PROBLEM: The incidence of HIV has in the past years increased in Australia. According to
statistics from the department of health, the HIV diagnoses have increased from 719 in 1999 to
1137 in 2011.Between 2010 and 2011, there was an 8.2% increase in the rates of HIV in
Australia (Lee et al., 2015, p. 1296). The HIV and AIDS epidemic in Australia can be
summarized as shown in the figure below.
A table illustrating the burden of HIV in Australia.
Total Population in Australia 22.68 Million
Number of HIV diagnoses at end of 2010 30,486 cases cumulative
Total number of people living with HIV as at
2010
25,166 people
Women above 15 years with HIV 6,800 people
Incidence Stable at around 1000 cases per year.
Prevalence rates among adults between 15-49
years.
0.20%
Source: https://www.aids2014.org/WebContent/File/AIDS2014_Fact_sheet_Australia.pdf
But since there exists different lines of antiretroviral, the number mortality rates recorded still
remains relatively low. In NSW alone, statistics indicate that there are more than 300 new HIV
infections per year. The studies link 80% of this cases to gay and bisexual men. Despite being a
small epidemic globally, the campaign believe that even a single infection is one too many. HIV
has known to be one of the leading factors that contributes to the increased mortality rates among
gay, bisexual and heterosexual men in New South Wales. In fact, it was ranked number one in
2014 (Roberts, Holden, Duck, & Kitchener, 2015 p.12).It for this reason therefore that there was
the need for the HIV campaign in the region.

GOAL: ACON was an initiative that was launched in 2013 and it was set up with the objective
of reducing the transmission of HIV in NSW by 80% in 2020 through educating, informing,
supporting gay, bisexual and other men who engage in sexual activities with their fellow men.
This is just a broad objective that can be subdivided further as shown below:
 Sustaining virtual elimination of HIV related deaths
 Increase the number of people subjected to antiretroviral treatment to 90%
 Reduce the duration between infection of HIV and diagnosis from the initial 4.5 to 1.5
years.
 Reduce HIV transmission among people who inject drugs
 Reduce the heterosexual HIV transmission among the indigenous Australians by 50%
 Eliminate vertical transmission of HIV (Mother to child).
TARGET/AUDIENCE: The target audience for this campaign is the gay, bisexual and other
men who engage in sexual activities with fellow men.
CONSULTATION: The campaign has been developed by different organizations within
Australia. Some of the notable organizations include the National Association of People Living
with AIDS (NAPWA), the AIDS council of SA, the indigenous Australians Sexual Working
Party and the Australian Federation of AIDS organization. The campaign is primarily financed
by the New South Wales Government.
STRATEGIES AND COMMUNICATION: In this campaign, different strategies as well as
communication were used. The most common form of communication as done through the
media. There were visual adverts that were done on different people among the indigenous
Australians being diagnosed for HIV. The visual adverts aired on the national televisions also

contained victims of HIV and people were able to see the impact of the virus on the human body.
National radio stations were also used to create awareness on the effects of HIV. People were
educated on how to engage in safe sexual intercourse by using condoms. Others were educated
on radio that they should test for HIV before engaging in any acts of sex. Social media was also a
mode of communication especially to the youths. A Facebook and twitter accounts were set up
and the information was to educate them on the effects of HIV and how people can protect
themselves against the deadly virus. Different videos were uploaded on you tube and the
information was just the same.
IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPACT: HIV is a virus that can be easily identified through
diagnosis. The impact of this campaign has therefore seen increased rates of testing as well as
diagnosis. Initially, there were increased cases or incidences and this was attributed to the new
surveillance of the campaign. However, the rates of HIV among gay, bisexual and heterosexual
men has reduced considerably. According to the statistics published in 2014, the prevalence of
HIV among the target group had reduced by 24% in New South Wales. This was just barely one
year after the program or the campaign was launched. It is therefore expected that by 2020, the
target or rather the objective of the campaign would have been achieved.
EVALUATION: An online survey was established in May 2018 to evaluate the effectiveness of
the ACON campaign. The survey mostly focused on the campaign reach, its effectiveness in
disseminating the message and the impact or the effect of the program. There were 520
respondents and most of which were from the New South Wales. The average respondents were
also gay men from the same region. The results from the survey indicate that 66% of the
respondents recall the test often advertisement while 83% are aware of the ending HIV campaign
(Bavinton et al., 2016 p.1782). The study also established that 63% of the respondents are more

aware of the benefits of frequent testing. A further 30% of the respondents indicated that
advertisements have prompted frequent testing amongst themselves. Besides advertisements on
television, social platforms have seen increased engagements with more than 117,672 video
views on Facebook, 102,950 browsing at the website and finally 172,456 page views. What all
this implies is that the campaign has been a hit and it is on track. It is likely to achieve its
primary target of reducing 80% of HIV among gay, bisexual and heterosexual men in New South
Wales by 2020.

References
Bavinton, B. R., Duncan, D., Grierson, J., Zablotska, I. B., Down, I. A., Grulich, A. E., &
Prestage, G. P. (2016). The Meaning of ‘Regular Partner’ in HIV Research Among Gay and
Bisexual Men: Implications of an Australian Cross-Sectional Survey. AIDS and Behavior, 20(8),
1777-1784. doi:10.1007/s10461-016-1354-5
Lee, E., Murphy, D., Mao, L., De Wit, J., Prestage, G., Zablotska, I., & Holt, M. (2015). Social
and Behavioural Correlates of HIV Testing Among Australian Gay and Bisexual Men in Regular
Relationships. AIDS and Behavior, 20(6), 1295-1301. doi:10.1007/s10461-015-1167-y
Roberts, N., Holden, J., Duck, T., & Kitchener, S. (2015). Health promotion ‘on steroids’: the
value of an experiential approach to promote rapid HIV testing in NSW, Australia. Public
Health Research & Practice. doi:10.17061/phrp2521522