Rampant (ATOM Study Guide)

Victoria Midwinter Pitt's documentary, Rampant, is a fascinating account of the triumph of political pragmatism. It looks back at the history of 1980s public health policy responses to the threat of an AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) epidemic in Australia. The so-called Australian Model focused primarily on realistic strategies to prevent the spread of infection; it constituted one of the swiftest and most successful responses to the virus in the world, and it is today lauded by the United Nations. At the heart of this approach was an implicit and in some ways radical acknowledgement that the three marginalized, outcast social groups most immediately in danger of infection (intravenous drug users, homosexuals and sex workers) were intimately woven into the fabric of all our communities. The Australian Model recognised that curtailing this disease needed to be a high priority for all of us; HIV/AIDS could not somehow be quarantined in gay and junkie ghettoes while the rest of us went blithely about our business.

By way of comparison, official US policy on AIDS is founded on the promotion of sexual abstinence before marriage and on zero tolerance for drug use. It could be argued that this articulates a blinkered and narrow view of how some (religious, conservative) people feel the rest of us should behave, rather than on a brave and honest recognition of the full spectrum of human social and sexual behaviour. Statistics here are revealing. In Australia today, over thirty-two million needles and syringes are distributed annually, and only one per cent of IV drug users are HIV Positive; in the US, where needle exchange programs have very limited official or public support, the infection rate in this community stands at twenty per cent.

At a time when infection rates around the world continue to spiral out of control and when our own culture appears to be drifting inexorably towards the conservative right, Rampant is a vital reminder of the need for common sense, compassion and vigilance. It is also a powerful and uplifting story, shot through with moving personal anecdotes and insights. In this important and peculiarly Australian social document, we meet a wonderful coalition of 'poofters, whores and junkies', joining together with politicians, doctors and social workers to design and implement strategies to protect us all.