title: Twenty-five years.
abstract: Having returned to Australia from the United Kingdom in late 1979, it has been my privilege to witness first-hand the quite dramatic changes in Sexual Health Medicine which have taken place during the final 25 years of my professional life. In this article I give a snapshot of my early experiences at the Melbourne Communicable Diseases Centre, highlighting some of the deficiencies that needed urgent attention. I wish I could say that this picture was an exaggeration to make the article more interesting but unfortunately that is not the case. I also attempt to examine some of the factors that brought about the much-needed improvements, especially the effect human immunodeficiency virus had on sexual health practice. It is impossible to mention all the individuals most involved in initiating change, but I have mentioned a couple of names, only because of close personal knowledge about their contribution.
authors.affiliation: davidbradford41@hotmail.com
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bradford
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000639:trends; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000266:history; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine / Q000639:trends; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000639:trends*; D034121:Reproductive Health Services / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D013038:Specialization; D013041:Specialties, Nursing / Q000639:trends; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods