In Australia, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) notifications have been on the rise for the past decade. We conduct surveillance for HIV and STIs on behalf of the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments.

Rigorous evaluations of projects and programs are aimed at better understanding the transmission and prevention of communicable diseases, including HIV and STIs and the health and wellbeing of affected populations.

Objectives:

• Managing, developing and refining innovative surveillance systems for the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments to better understand the drivers of HIV and other STI transmission
• Undertake evaluation projects to examine the effectiveness of policy and initiatives aimed at reducing the transmission and impact of communicable diseases, including blood borne viruses and STI
• Integrating findings from our surveillance, epidemiology and research to inform policy and practice to prevent the transmission of diseases such as HIV and other STI transmission.

Current Projects

• ACCESS: STI and BBV surveillance system
  ACCESS is a surveillance system that collates important information on a range of STIs and BBVs.
• Evaluation of Malaria Case-Based Reporting using a mobile phone application in Myanmar
  Evaluating the effectiveness of a mobile phone-based application to improve the reporting and surveillance of malaria in Myanmar
• Host and parasite factors that predict Artemisinin Resistance reservoirs
  Understanding how population immunity seeds transmission of malaria infectious reservoirs, including drug resistant parasites
• Impact of declining transmission on immunity and risk of malaria rebound
  As malaria transmission falls, it is critical to understand how changing immunity affects risk of malaria.
• Improving Hepatitis B Virus screening in general practice in Victoria
  Knowledge, attitudes and practices of HBV screening by GPs in Victoria, and an intervention to improve screening among priority populations.
• Predicting quality and potency of monoclonal and natural antibodies
  Rapid, simple and scalable assays for predicting antibody potency.
• Serological surveillance to identify mosquito exposure and malaria transmission
  Identifying and understanding “hot spots” and “hot pops” of malaria transmission are crucial to target interventions for elimination.
• SHARP: Screening for Hepatitis in At-Risk Populations
  A collaborative project between Burnet Institute and Cancer Council Victoria.
• SHARP: Sexual Health And Risk Prevention Study
  Assessing responses to HIV prevention measures among Australian MSM.
• The production of guidance for the laboratory sector to prepare for emergency situations
  A project to produce a global guide to maintain diagnostic capacity in emergency settings.

Past Projects

• HIV/AIDS Passive Surveillance
  Carries out surveillance for HIV and AIDS in Victoria.
• The Victorian Primary Care Network for Sentinel Surveillance on BBVs and STIs
  The surveillance involves collection and linking of testing, demographic, and risk behaviour information.