A profile of HIV testing in Victoria, 1984 to 2004.

Abstract

HIV testing is an important public health strategy and collection of HIV testing data is a component of overall HIV surveillance activities. This paper describes changes in HIV testing patterns in relation to HIV diagnoses in Victoria between 1984 and 2004. HIV testing and diagnosis data were extracted from surveillance databases maintained at the Burnet Institute. The annual number of HIV tests performed in Victoria increased from 2,879 in 1984, to 193,927 in 2004. Between 1991 and 2004, the male HIV testing rate per 100,000 population increased from 2,754 to 3,710 and the female rate from 2,395 to 4,453. The proportion of HIV tests conducted by private laboratories increased from less than..