Glasgow HIV Drug Therapy 2016

Amazing 1st day at this conference, enjoyed most of the sessions, very scientific and to be totally honest, some of it 'over my head'. What did I learn and want to bring back to my peers in Refugee/Sexual health?

1) the push to have more community HIV clinics, where clients can access without the stigma attached to hospital clinics.

2) some research is looking at 'inplanontype devices which leak the drug slowly over a 12 month period and could be removed if unable to tolerate.

3) some research also showed that clients would prefer to self administer injections rather than taking tablets for their illness. Clients were able to forget about their daily regime of tablet taking, were able to be more spontaneous, felt the injections were safe and the fear of needles was not a major concern.

4) Implantable PrEP (silicon tubing implant) which would have a minimum 1 year insertion and then dissolve!!

5) Lower cost of medications for the treatment of cancer, HIV & Viral Hepatitis by Andrew Hill was very interesting. He discussed the cost of drugs in reality if made in India which is far cheaper than other options. I think we should all be looking at his research/discussions and possibly buying our drugs from India which I believe is legal in Australia.

Lastly, as you know, there has been an increase in Australia in HIV cases and I wonder if we are doing enough to educate our population? Clearly not. The last speaker of the evening was Linda-Gail Becker who talked out the 'kids born after 2000' the 'i-generation' who are using technology for everything. Maybe we should be educating  this population via devices!!

If there is something you would love to know and couldn't be here, let me know and I will endeavour to find out for you. Cheers Karinne and thanks to ASHM for my scholarship.