Adelaide: Australia’s Latest Fast-Track City

Adelaide is the latest Australian city to join the Fast-Track Cities network, signing on with the aim to end the HIV epidemic by 2030.

The Fast-Track Cities Initiative (FTCI) is comprised of a global network of cities and municipalities around the world supported by the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the City of Paris.

Fast-Track Cities are committed to an ambitious set of targets:

• 95% of people living with HIV knowing their status
• 95% of those living with HIV who know their status on antiretroviral therapy (ART)
• 95% of those on ART virally suppressed, and
• 95% of at-risk individuals using combination HIV prevention

The City of Melbourne in 2015, and City of Perth in 2021 joined the Fast-Track Cities Initiative.

The South Australian Minister for Health and Wellbeing Stephen Wade signed the Paris declaration at the opening night of Silhouettes: Fashion in the Shadow of HIV/AIDS, making Adelaide the third Australian city to do so.

“We remain firmly committed to eliminating HIV transmission in South Australia. Through strong partnerships and investment in a suite of state and national sexually transmissible infection and blood borne virus strategies, we are determined to make this a reality,” he said.

“The time is now to ramp up those efforts, to bring down the remaining barriers to HIV prevention, testing, treatment, care and support, and importantly to finally stamp out HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination.”

Welcome @CityofAdelaide to the @FastTrackCities network! Minister @StephenWadeMLC signed @Paris Declaration to make this city the third city in #Australia to join the network. @_SAMESH_ @IAPAC pic.twitter.com/lInz8MBp1f

— José M Zuniga (@JoseM_Zuniga) January 28, 2022

President of Thorne Harbour Health, Janet Jukes OAM said this was the time to support efforts to end the HIV epidemic in the state.

“We were talking about how close we are to seeing the end of this epidemic, but it’s really not the time to take our foot off the accelerator right now,” she said.

“By the City of Adelaide and the South Australian Government committing to Fast Track Cities, I think it’ll make just that bit of extra difference. We’re on the edge of eliminating HIV, in Australia at least and in first world countries, so thank you very much. It’s incredibly important.”

Fast-Track Cities benefit from support ranging from capacity-building for clinical and service providers to technical assistance for health departments.

To engage with the community, IAPAC have partnered with SAMESH to advance the Fast-Track Cities objectives in Adelaide.

President of IAPAC, Dr José M Zuniga in a statement welcomed the City of Adelaide as the third Australian city to join the Fast-Track Cities network.

“We look forward to working closely with local stakeholders, as well as colleagues in South Australia, to close HIV prevention and treatment gaps, but also address stigma and other social determinants of health,” he said.

“We have the tools at our disposal, but need community engagement, political will, and public health leadership to realize an end to urban HIV epidemics.”

For more information on the Fast-Track Cities Initiative, visit the IAPAC website.