Alfred Health News

This World AIDS Day we remember The Alfred's efforts in research and prevention in the global response toward reaching the UNAIDS goal of zero infections by 2020.

As the statewide provider of the Victorian HIV Service, The Alfred has been caring for people living with HIV since the early days of the epidemic through patient care, clinical and laboratory research and community partnerships.

Director of HIV Medicine at The Alfred, Professor Jenny Hoy says, World AIDS Day is a reminder that the global response to HIV still faces many challenges despite our recent achievements.

"We need to support people to access treatment, as we know getting treatment in the early stages of infection has better health outcomes. Importantly, we can raise awareness that people living with HIV have the right to participate in a community free of stigma and discrimination," Professor Hoy said.

HIV research remains a major research focus at The Alfred and some of those pioneering doctors and researchers broke new ground this year in HIV cure research and prevention.

As head of clinical research at The Alfred department of Infectious Diseases, Dr Julian Elliot's research is focussed on HIV cure and improving the long term health of people living with HIV.

A recent example of Dr Elliot's work, together with the Peter Doherty Institute, made headlines after published research in the Lancet HIV showed a drug to treat alcoholism can also be used to wake latent HIV - an important step toward finding a cure.

Finding drugs to lure HIV out of infected cells with minimal side-effects has been a key strategy for HIV researchers at The Alfred. Preventing the transmission of the virus is another.

Using existing HIV antiretroviral medication - Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) could be the game changer in reducing HIV transmissions and was the goal of an Australian-first study led by Infectious Diseases Physician and Clinical Researcher A/Prof Edwina Wright. 

When taken daily, the drug stops the process of the virus replicating once it has entered the immune system's cells. The antiretroviral drug is only prescribed for people living with HIV, but there are plans to make the drug available in the future.

The global theme for World AIDS Day 2015 is Zero New Transmissions, Zero Discrimination, and Zero Deaths.

To hear more about The Alfred's recent achievements in HIV medicine this year click here.