If Labor wins the next federal election Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has committed $53 million to step up the fight against HIV.

The commitment will include $3.6 million a year to support all states and territories in offering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to another 17,500 Australians until it is listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and subsidised.

It will also provide $10 million a year to renew Australia’s HIV response by restoring the funding and capacity that the current government has cut from HIV organisations, including the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations and Scarlet Alliance.

The funding package will also allocate $3 million a year to target ‘hidden populations’, including people that aren’t diagnosed with or currently being treated for HIV, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

But when it comes to PrEP, that could all change if it is listed on the PBS at the end of this week. Michael Whelan from PrEP Access NOW joins Dean on The Informer to look at the current state of play with the PrEP trials around the country, and if this is a promise that we can truly take to the bank.

The current government has cut almost $1 billion from health promotion, undermining the community-led response to HIV in Australia with more than 1,000 Australians still diagnosed with HIV every year, Labours commitment comes as part of the national push to end new HIV infections by 2020.

This segment appeared on The Informer on JOY 94.9 on 11th December 2017.