Media release — 30 November 2007

WORLD AIDS DAY 2007

After a long term decline in the number of reported HIV infections, Queensland has recorded an increase in newly diagnosed HIV infections from 3.5 per 100,000 to 4.0 per 100,000.

Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth said ‘Let's not forget on World Aids Day that discrimination against a person who is HIV-Positive is against the law.’

Ms Booth warned ‘Assumptions based on prejudice or misinformation may well lead to claims of discrimination and worse treatment because of a person's HIV status.’

‘HIV-Positive people are still telling us that they experience discrimination and unfair treatment despite these laws’ Ms Booth said.

Areas where complaints are made to the Anti-Discrimination Commission include at work and services provided by doctors and other health professionals.

The Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 prohibits discrimination because of an impairment. This includes ‘the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing illness or disease’.

World Aids Day was first declared in 1998 and is observed annually. This year the theme is HIV/AIDS: Prevention is everybody's business.

For further comment contact Susan Booth

telephone: 07) 3247 0901 or TTY 1300 130 680

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