Overview

Manager: Jason Asselin

In Australia, HIV, viral hepatitis and other sexually transmissible infections (STIs) notifications have been on the rise for the past decade. The Surveillance and Evaluation working group conducts surveillance for bloodborne viruses (BBVs) and STIs on behalf of State and Commonwealth Governments.

Its flagship project, the Australian Collaboration for Coordinated Enhanced Sentinel Surveillance of Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections (ACCESS), is a vital tool to assist the Commonwealth with monitoring and evaluating progress towards the goals and objectives of the national BBV and STI strategies. ACCESS also contributes important data to the projects like EC Australia.

This group also conducts rigorous evaluations of projects and programs aimed at better understanding the transmission and prevention of BBVs and STIs and the health and wellbeing of key populations.

Objectives

• Managing, developing and refining innovative surveillance systems for the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments to better understand the drivers of BBV and STI transmission, treatment and prevention.
• Undertake evaluation projects to examine the effectiveness of policy and initiatives aimed at reducing the transmission and impact of BBVs and STIs and improve access to treatment and care.
• Integrating findings from our surveillance, epidemiology and research to inform policy and practice to prevent the transmission of BBVs and STIs and improve access to treatment and care.

Highlights

• The ACCESS project is a national health surveillance network of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) and blood borne viruses (BBVs), which started in 2008. ACCESS was initially focused exclusively on chlamydia, but in 2013 expanded to encompass other STIs and BBVs as well. In 2016, ACCESS received funding from the Australian Department of Health to improve coverage and capacity for monitoring testing, diagnosis, and treatment of HIV, Hepatitis B and C and STIs in every state and territory.
• Building on the success of ACCESS in Australia, the working group is now piloting the technology in Myanmar, to assist in monitoring the HIV treatment cascade.
• The Surveillance and Evaluation group continue to evaluate Victorian HIV and other STI prevention initiatives.