Rock legend Elton John is touring Australia,a country he says has the opportunity to end HIV transmission.Credit:Adam McLean
Today,London Lighthouse has been re-purposed given the success of anti-retroviral therapy in preventing sickness and death. As Prince Harry and I toured its garden,which holds the ashes of many people for whom that therapy came too late,we reflected on how overjoyed Princess Diana would be to think that an AIDS-free future is now truly within our grasp.
From the beginning,the AIDS epidemic has generated unusual alliances. If I had claimed in 1982 that one of Australia's defining national achievements would come from the cooperative efforts of gay men,sex workers,and people who inject drugs,I would likely have been met with scepticism,to say the least.
Princess Diana and Sir Elton John have both contributed to the fight against AIDS.Credit:Stefano Rellandini
Yet 35 years later,that's where Australia finds itself,with the opportunity to end HIV transmission. Australia should be proud that what brings her to this point is a triple combination strategy of courage,compassion and compromise,driven by the very people whose lives are most disrupted and traumatised by the virus.
In the early 1980s,gay activists in this country risked social ostracism and violence when they insisted on explicit advertising campaigns to encourage their peers to wear condoms. They won.
Sex workers stood up to clients and brothel owners to insist on safe sex. They won too. People who inject drugs teamed up with brave doctors to stretch legal boundaries,establishing the first clean needle exchange programs.
What underpins these acts of heroism was simple:HIV could only be prevented by convincing people to change their risky behaviour. And to do that,you had to be honest about how people behave in the real world.