In remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia, there is a high prevalence of bacterial sexually transmissible infections (STI) and delays in receiving results and treatment, providing impetus for evaluations to be undertaken on the feasibility, cost and impact of STI point-of-care tests. Due to very low HIV prevalence in these communities, the substantial numbers of false-positive results would result in more harm than any perceived benefit.

We used a meta-analytic approach to systematically analyse 14 published studies to elucidate the prevalence and genotype distribution of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV( infection among female sex workers (FSWs) in Asia. Crude prevalence ranged from 12.8% to 84.8% among FSWs, which was nearly 10-fold of the prevalence in the general women population. HPV genotype distribution in FSWs was statistically different between East Asia and South-east Asia.

This article examines the recent peer-reviewed literature (published between 1999 and 2009) on men’s attitudes towards chlamydia screening. It discusses the factors that encourage and discourage men from accepting chlamydia screening, and reviews where men want chlamydia screening services to be located.

A school-based cross-sectional survey of potential HIV risk factors in 983 male and female adolescents aged 14–17 was conducted in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Survey results highlight the importance of gender, peer and partner influences on young people’s sexual activity and condom use, which increased for boys and girls with improved partner communication. HIV prevention interventions should build on existing gender equitable beliefs, and work to promote others.

The increased trend of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and the opportunity that the prison environment offers for screening programs justifies monitoring its prevalence and risk factors in prisons. Prevalence of CT was 5.4%. Independent risk factors for infection were as follows: foreign origin, having had simultaneous sexual partners and alcohol consumption. Systematic monitoring of CT in prisoners is important in order to prevent further problems in themselves and in the general population.

Little is known about rectal sexually transmissible infections among men who have sex with both men and women. Self-obtained rectal specimens were collected from a diverse sample of 75 behaviourally bisexual men in the Midwestern USA. A relatively high prevalence of rectal Chlamydia trachomatis infection was found. Since most participants reported acceptability with the self-sampling process, future efforts should focus on increasing rectal sexually transmissible infection testing and treatment options for bisexual men.

An Australian sexual health telemedicine service was piloted in an attempt to increase rural youths’ access to health services. Evidence is presented that online video consultations for sexual health may not yet be widely acceptable to young people in Australia.

This presents data about HIV/AIDS related knowledge among 13-15 year old school-going adolescents from seven countries of the Middle East and North Africa using the Global School Based Student Health Survey (GSHS). HIV/AIDS related knowledge varied significantly across countries in this study. Interestingly, girls reported more HIV/AIDS related knowledge than boys. More research for this sensitive topic focussing on gender aspects is needed for this region.

Substance abuse is an important modifiable factor for prevention of non-AIDS related disease and transmission of infection. This study establishes the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use in the Western Australian HIV Cohort and its association with detectable virus, with the aim of providing an evidence base to justify integrating interventions into HIV clinical care.