Mrs HICKEY - 1994-12-01
The minister would be aware that the incidence of some sexually-transmitted diseases is increasing in the Territory. The Menzies School of Health Research's annual report states: 'Communicable and sexually-transmitted diseasesstill present major threats to health in the Northern Territory'. The minister would be aware also that the Territory has 10 times the level of STDs in any other state or territory. Is the minister concerned that the Territory appears to have all the factors in place for the potentially rapid spread of the HIV/AIDS infection in the general community?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I am very much aware of all of the facts to which the member for Barkly has just referred because I have repeated them to her on numerous occasions in this House and through the media over the last couple of years. It is a matter in which I have taken a particular interest. It is a matter in relation to which the department is particularly pro-active. It has an excellent range of programs. The member for Barkly asks me today whether we are putting programs in place. I would have thought that she would have been aware of the recent launch of Clinic 34. That excellent initiative is designed to address the particular matters to which the member for Barkly has just referred. Recently, the Communicable Diseases Unit in the Department of Health and Community Services has been responsible, after application to the Commonwealth, for diverting funds from the national AIDS program to a specific Aboriginal program in the Northern Territory to address the issue of sexually-transmitted diseases to which she referred. It has in place also a wide range of strategies, including education programs. I have absolute confidence in the initiatives that the department is undertaking to address the matters that the member raised.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I am very much aware of all of the facts to which the member for Barkly has just referred because I have repeated them to her on numerous occasions in this House and through the media over the last couple of years. It is a matter in which I have taken a particular interest. It is a matter in relation to which the department is particularly pro-active. It has an excellent range of programs. The member for Barkly asks me today whether we are putting programs in place. I would have thought that she would have been aware of the recent launch of Clinic 34. That excellent initiative is designed to address the particular matters to which the member for Barkly has just referred. Recently, the Communicable Diseases Unit in the Department of Health and Community Services has been responsible, after application to the Commonwealth, for diverting funds from the national AIDS program to a specific Aboriginal program in the Northern Territory to address the issue of sexually-transmitted diseases to which she referred. It has in place also a wide range of strategies, including education programs. I have absolute confidence in the initiatives that the department is undertaking to address the matters that the member raised.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016