费莉西蒂·扬在澳大利亚HIV防治领域耕耘了40年，如今66岁的她决定从这一长期工作中退休。[1]扬于1982年澳大利亚首例艾滋病确诊后开始从事HIV工作，当时年仅24岁。[1]她的职业生涯始于1980年代昆士兰州疫情初期——当时保守政府的压制与社会歧视使防治工作困难重重。
在昆士兰州总理比耶克-彼得森执政期间，政府拒绝实施安全性教育和安装避孕套自动售卖机，并禁止向昆士兰艾滋病委员会拨款。[1]1986年，扬被分配在沃尔斯顿公园医院的两个高安全病房工作。[1]1987年，HIV阳性患者被收治至医院时，遭到医护人员的边缘化和歧视。[1]同年比耶克-彼得森辞职，继任者艾恩采取了更为进步的政策，允许在福蒂图德谷美沙酮诊所开展清洁针头试点项目。[1]
扬的贡献逐步扩大了范围。1990年，她被任命为澳大利亚艾滋病组织联合会执行董事。[1]从1995年至2024年间，扬与丈夫格雷厄姆·尼尔森在印度尼西亚、南非、泰国、柬埔寨、巴布亚新几内亚和斐济等国从事HIV防治工作。[1]2024年，扬因其杰出贡献被任命为澳大利亚勋章获得者（AO）。[1]昆士兰州已承诺到2030年实现新HIV传播的虚拟消除。[1]
Felicity Young, who has devoted four decades to HIV prevention and advocacy in Australia and internationally, is stepping away from her long-standing role following a distinguished career that began during the earliest days of the AIDS crisis.[1] Young was just 24 years old when she entered HIV work shortly after Australia's first AIDS diagnosis in 1982, and she is now 66.[1]
Young's career unfolded against a backdrop of political resistance and social stigma. In 1986, she was assigned to work in two high-security wards at Wolston Park Hospital, where HIV-positive patients admitted in 1987 faced marginalization and discrimination from healthcare staff.[1] During this period, Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen blocked critical public health measures, refusing to implement safe sex education, install condom machines, or fund the Queensland AIDS Committee.[1] The political landscape shifted in 1987 when Bjelke-Petersen resigned and was succeeded by Mike Ahern, who permitted a needle-exchange pilot program to launch at a methadone clinic in Fortitude Valley.[1]
By 1990, Young was appointed executive director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations.[1] From 1995 to 2024, she and her husband, Graham Neilsen, extended their HIV prevention work across multiple countries, including Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji.[1] Her contributions were formally recognized in 2024 with her appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).[1] Queensland has committed to achieving virtual elimination of new HIV transmissions by 2030.[1]