Demographic pattern of AIDS in Australia, 1991 to 1993

Population-based acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) incidence in Australia in 1991-1993 was ascertained. The National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research obtained information on AIDS cases from notification by doctors of AIDS diagnoses through the Department of Health in each state and territory. Information on the Australian population, broken down by sex, age group, country of birth and geographic area of residence was obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. To the end of February 1995, 2341 cases of AIDS were reported as having been diagnosed in Australia during 1991-1993. Of these, 96 per cent were in males, of whom over 72 per cent were in the age group 25-44 years. Geographic concentration of AIDS cases was observed: over 55 per cent of cases were in New South Wales (NSW) and these were concentrated in inner Sydney, in particular, in two metropolitan health areas: Eastern Sydney and Central Sydney. Age-standardised average annual incidence per 100 000 population was 8.9 for males, 0.4 for females and 4.6 overall. This incidence varied widely when the population was subdivided by Local Government Area, especially in NSW, where incidence for males varied from 0.0 to 204.4. The highest average annual incidence per 100 000 population by country of birth was recorded for people born in North America, which was almost four times higher than that for people born in Australia. Although AIDS cases diagnosed in 1991-1993 were concentrated on the metropolitan area of capital cities, cases also occurred in rural areas.