An inner-city health service that targets gay and bisexual men is running out of HIV testing kits and has levelled the blame squarely at the Newman government.
The Queensland AIDS Council claims it has come under sustained attack from Health Minister Lawrence Springborg since funding for the organisation, when it was still known as the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities, was cut in 2012.
It was one of the Newman government’s first contentious decisions after it was swept into office.
However, Mr Springborg’s office said it was a matter of a lack of communication from QuAC’s behalf that had prevented tests being provided.
QuAC executive director Michael Scott said the organisation was part of a rapid testing trial that started in November 2012.
But while other clinics continued to receive the kits from the state government, Mr Scott said QuAC’s supply had dried up, meaning they had to purchase kits for about $26 each.
“The Health Minister is very keen to implement strategies to reduce HIV infection and to roll out rapid testing,” he said.
“He’s known that our clinic has been operating for some time and I would have thought as a health minister he would have approached us to work with us, but he’s chosen not to.
“To be honest, I think it’s a political smokescreen he’s putting up to hide the reality, which is the Health Minister doesn’t want to work with the Queensland AIDS Council.”
Mr Scott said Mr Springborg had made the decision to defund QuAC and he was “sticking to that decision even if it’s going to mean some of our clients are being turned away”.
A spokesman for Mr Springborg said Queensland Health only received QuAC’s application for kits on August 8.
“Previously, they have sourced their kits as part of a trail/research being undertaken by another group,” he said.
“Other health services that wanted kits applied for them earlier and have entered service agreements with Queensland Health to receive [and] administer them.
“The department is processing the QuAC application and preparing a service agreement.”
While not speaking specifically about QuAC’s case, Mr Springborg told reporters on the Gold Coast the Newman government remained committed to rapid HIV testing, which he said was not made available under the previous Labor government.
“We’re now the exemplar in the nation,” he said.
Mr Springborg said the only requirement for the supply of the HIV rapid testing kits was an appropriate level of training.
“We’re going to roll this out more and we’re more than happy to make it available to organisations that are appropriately organised to do so and those organisations know that,” he said.
Mr Scott said QuAC had been responsible for about 20 per cent of the tests conducted throughout Queensland, despite its clinic being open for just two hours every Tuesday evening.
He said QuAC’s statistics showed 10 per cent of people who attended its clinic had never been tested before.
“Another thing to point out is 45 per cent of the people we service have not been tested in the past 12 months,” Mr Scott said.
“So again it’s the convenience and appropriateness of our service that are attractive to people and if we’re not providing that service, quite a number of people simply would not get tested for HIV.”
Of the roughly 360 rapid tests conducted by QuAC, seven had come back positive.
“The thing that makes us different is we’re a care-based, community-based organisation, so when people come in to our organisation, there are no restrictions on accessing our services,” he said.
“We specifically target gay men and men who have sex with men, but also being an LGBTI organisation, we’re an LGBTI-friendly service.
“That’s our point of difference from other clinics across Queensland.”
– Additional reporting by Amy Remeikis