Queensland gets $5.7m sexual health funding boost
HIV testing should become part of routine healthcare, the HIV Commission says. (Getty)
The Australian state of Queensland has got a AUD$5.7 million sexual health funding boost.
The Health and Ambulance Services Minister for the state, Cameron Dick, announced the increased funding on Tuesday.
He said that the funding will be split in a way which equips regional health services to better test and treat STIs, hepatitis and HIV.
“Good sexual health is an important facet of the overall health and wellbeing of Queenslanders,” Dick told the Star Observer.
“There are challenges in this area of health, including rising rates of some STIs, issues relating to reproductive health, increasing numbers of people living with HIV, and the discrimination and stigmatisation that is often associated with sexual health related matters.”
The funding will be split between AUD$1.5 million to statewide programs for sexual health education, $3.7 million to other regions and services to add skills and resources.
Areas of Queensland, Townsville, Wide Bay, and the Gold Coast will each receive $481,000 extra funding over four years to improve sexual health services.
The extra funding is part of the Queensland Sexual Health Strategy, which sees $62 million in actions to bring down STI numbers as well as help to prevent HIV and viral hepatitis.
