![Rapid HIV testing provides a result within about 30 minutes.](http://web.archive.org./web/20130115002134im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2012/08/25/3582986/Prick-test_353-300x0.jpg)
Rapid HIV testing provides a result within about 20 minutes.
VICTORIA will become the first state to offer rapid HIV testing - where results are known almost immediately - under a Baillieu government push to reduce infection rates.
With state figures showing about 265 new HIV cases are identified every year, Health Minister David Davis will on Sunday announce plans for Australia's first community-based trial to get more people tested and treated sooner. Under the pilot, a walk-in testing service will be set up over the next two years - most likely in Melbourne's inner north or inner south-east - providing results within 20 minutes.
This is a significant improvement from the current system, where people can be forced to wait weeks to learn whether they have been infected.
''By providing affordable, accessible, convenient rapid HIV testing, we can reduce a number of barriers to testing - such as the need to return for results - and provide an incentive to frequent testing by getting results in 20 minutes or less,'' Mr Davis said.
''There are about 6080 Victorians living with HIV and approximately 265 new cases identified every year. Early detection will give most people the chance at treatment to control the virus and stay healthy.''
Mr Davis will make the announcement at Sunday's Midsumma Carnival, which marks the start of Melbourne's annual gay and lesbian festival.
It comes after he attended the International AIDS Conference in Washington last year, where he was convinced by evidence showing the importance of early detection and high rates of testing when it comes to managing HIV.
Rapid testing is available in several countries, including the US and across Europe, but a standalone service has not been offered in Australia before, despite the fact the country is a signatory to ambitious United Nations targets to halve HIV rates by 2015.
Canberra announced last month that a rapid HIV point-of-care test had been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Victorian AIDS Council executive director Matt Dixon said rapid testing was crucial, given 20 to 30 per cent of
people with HIV are undiagnosed. ''If more guys are getting tested more frequently, we'll be picking up those new infections before they are transmitted on to another person,'' he said.
Figures suggest HIV cases have stabilised in Victoria in recent years, ranging from 263 cases in 2007 to 278 cases in 2011.
But Dr Mark Stoove, head of HIV research at the Burnet Institute, said national rates were at ''historical highs'', with about 1000 diagnoses every year.
''Since the late 1990s we've essentially seen a doubling of annual notifications,'' he said. ''Rapid testing is a key prevention initiative.''
The Burnet Institute will help run the trial with the Victorian AIDS Council. The government expects it will cost about $500,000 in its first year, but it is anticipated testing will be free.
Mr Davis said he had written to federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek seeking to have rapid testing included in the Medical Benefits Scheme, but the trial, which will begin by July, would proceed regardless.
Asked if he could guarantee full implementation after two years, Mr Davis said: ''Success will be a matter for assessment, but given the models that exist in other parts of the world, we would have every confidence that this would be a popular and welcome step.''
State Labor health spokesman Gavin Jennings welcomed the trial.
■ftomazin@fairfaxmedia.com.au