According to the HIV Futures 3 report, launched by Australian Health Minister Kay Patterson in Melbourne last week, many people living with HIV are experiencing significant discrimination and poverty, despite a dramatic decline in mortality rates in recent years. Half of those surveyed were experiencing stigmatization and discrimination because of their infection. More than one in three (37 percent) had experienced discrimination -- including breaches of confidentiality and refusal of treatment -- with regard to medical care. Nearly one in five (18.5 percent) had experienced harassment or were living in fear of violence. Around one-fifth had been discriminated against in the workplace, and one-tenth were discriminated against in terms of accommodation. Almost one-third of people with HIV/AIDS lived below the poverty line, the report found.

"It remains a gross indictment of a wealthy society like Australia that people with HIV continue to suffer this level of privation," said Chief Investigator Dr. Jeffrey Grierson of Melbourne's La Trobe University. The report found the number of AIDS cases being diagnosed had declined since peaking in 1994.

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