February 2004

Multicultural health first for Victoria

A new multicultural health service for migrants with HIV or hepatitis C will help combat the spread of the disease in Victoria.

‘This new service has been jointly established by the Alfred Hospital and North Richmond Community Health Centre and targets the Vietnamese, Horn of Africa, Thai and Arabic speaking communities,’ said Health Minister Bronwyn Pike.

‘While we currently don’t have a cure for HIV and hepatitis C, we can at least ensure that people living with these conditions have culturally-sensitive and appropriate information, support and help in their own language.

‘The new service based at the North Richmond Community Health Centre has been opened on World AIDS day as a reminder that people have come from around the globe to Victoria and may be living with or are affected by HIV, hepatitis C or other sexually transmissible infections.

‘The partnership involves a user-friendly service with multicultural credentials backed by the State’s leading provider in HIV/AIDS and sexual health services.

‘This combination recognises that it would be easier for people to deal with some areas of health, particularly sexual, within the cultural context of their specific community.

‘This initiative will complement the Victorian Drug Initiative already working in the Vietnamese community but which does not directly provide health services,’ Ms Pike said.

Between 1996 and 2001 half of all newly diagnosed Victorian HIV infections among women were in women who were infected in a high-prevalence country before migrating here.

A large proportion of people with hepatitis C were also infected in their country of origin.

Ms Pike said many of these people did not yet speak English well and many of them came from countries where enormous stigma was attached to having HIV or hepatitis C.

‘A critical tool of the service will be current and accurate resources targeted specifically to the Vietnamese, Horn of Africa, Thai and Arabic-speaking communities.

‘These provide information in a non-confronting way and have been translated into Arabic, Cambodian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Amharic, Tigrigna, Somali, Spanish and Turkish,’ Ms Pike said.