Big picture focus on HIV

A new education campaign titled The Big Picture aims to put gay men in the picture about the state of HIV in NSW in 2011.

The aim is to provide research and notification statistics in a user-friendly format that offers up-to-date information.

The campaign, developed by ACON and the Metropolitan Gay Men’s HIV Prevention Interagency, is online on gay community websites and social media sites linking to www.hivthebigpicture.org.au

The campaign website offers questions and answers and the opportunity to explore each topic further.

The campaign also features a lift-out feature in gay print media and a booklet.

Big Picture also aims to get men talking about HIV from an informed perspective.

“The epidemic is ever evolving so it’s important to keep guys in the picture,” ACON Community Health director Geoff Honnor said.

“As a community, our level of HIV-related knowledge is pretty good, though as always, it varies between individuals and there are still a few surprisingly common misconceptions kicking around.

“But overall, 30 years into it, the continuing resilience of gay guys — poz and neg — in this state in responding to HIV is pretty impressive. In fact, the comparative success attributed to the NSW HIV response owes a lot to that resilience and it could do with more acknowledgement.

“In offering information updates, Big Picture also acknowledges the importance of the informed choices gay men make about maximising pleasure and minimising risk — choices that ultimately deliver better outcomes for all of us.”

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