In a significant advancement for HIV healthcare, Australia has introduced its first national guidelines for anal cancer screening specifically targeting people living with HIV (PLHIV). Developed by The Australasia Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) in collaboration with leading health organisations, these guidelines address the elevated risk of anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) among PLHIV.

Key recommendations include:

• Offering screening to gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (BM), trans women over 35, and cisgender women, trans men, and other cisgender men over 45.
• Utilising high-risk HPV testing with cytology triage as the primary screening method.
• Repeating screening every 3 years for those with negative results.
• Discontinuing screening at age 75 or after two consecutive negative results in non-sexually active individuals.

These guidelines are targeted for early detection and intervention, improving outcomes for PLHIV.

Read more: analcancerscreening.guidelines.org.au/key-recommendations/