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Bruce, can you tell us about the councillor training workshop you're running this weekend? Yes. We're trying to train volunteer counsellors to do the really quite massive job of supporting people, uh, who are afraid of AIDS, who have mild forms of the disease or, in fact, have AIDS. There's a lot of concern, a lot of worry in the community that needs to be addressed. And people with AIDS do need an awful lot of support in various ways, from financial to physical work to housekeeping and obviously, [00:00:30] um, emotional and, um, counselling sort of support. And that's the sort of training we'll be concentrating on this weekend. The Auckland Hospital in the last week has had to deal with two rather unexpected cases of AIDS. There's been a lot of conflicting information about these cases in the media. How well did the Auckland situation develop? How well did Auckland Hospital cope? Uh, very well. I think we have a really good relationship with most of the medical personnel [00:01:00] in Auckland Hospital. They offered our services to the people concerned, and those people chose to get us involved. We I don't want to say too much about this particular first case because we do want to guard their confidentiality. But, um, I think we were of of help to them, and the hospital coped pretty well. There wasn't too much hysteria. Um, where there were concerns and worries that was addressed in a fairly rational manner. The [00:01:30] guy off the QE two, we've been involved with him and giving him lots of support, and he's really been grateful. Um, obviously being so far away from home, Uh, it's not a very good situation for him, and and he's really appreciated us being able to come and visit him and give him support and also to be able to keep the media away. The media has been very interested in, uh, trying to get a story or interview with him, and he really just wishes to be left alone and just to quietly slip out of the country and go home. [00:02:00] There has been in relation to the later case a lot of concern expressed by, um, the liner and the police about dangers to public health. Was there any basis to those fears at all? None whatsoever. Uh, the guy in question was diagnosed quite some time ago. in the states with the disease. He has a disseminated form of the, uh, which doesn't respond to treatment. He was basically taking a a final cruise. Uh, it was unfortunate that he had [00:02:30] some problems that needed hospitalisation. Uh, when the ship was in New Zealand, Otherwise he would have probably completed the cruise without any problems. He, in fact, actually had tests before he left the states that that proved beyond doubt that he is not infectious it any longer. Uh, people in the later stage of AIDS, uh, typically are not infectious, uh, in any way. And he's a very responsible individual. Um, you know, I shouldn't have to say this, but I will say it quite categorically that he has not exposed anyone [00:03:00] through any sort of sexual or other contact. Um, and I've been concerned that there's been all this story about and worry about this particular sort of individual when we should really be much more concerned about people in the community who at the moment probably are contagious, probably don't know they're infected. Uh, these are the sort of people that we do need to worry about, not the people, not the confirmed cases, not the people who we know we have contact with and who we are monitoring and we know [00:03:30] are being responsible overseas. The pattern seems to be that once cases of AIDS appear, they double about every six months. There are just over 8000 cases we understand in the US over 100 in Britain and nearly 50 in Australia. When would we expect to see the first cases here? I think we'll see some cases within the next few months in New Zealand. We definitely have the virus here That was proven by the antibody tests done in Auckland. Uh, some of those people, um, do have [00:04:00] mild forms of AIDS, and we have other people who are being monitored at this stage. And obviously, you know, one of the important things about the network is to protect people's confidentiality and their identity. But it also is important for us to let people know that this is a serious problem and that it is happening in New Zealand. And I think I don't I'm not causing anybody's confidentiality to be compromised by saying that I think we will have cases very different in the next few months. [00:04:30] recent reports from Australia Bruce have indicated that the form of the virus there is rather more virulent than has been seen in other places. Australia seems to be a likely point from which the infection might enter New Zealand. Uh, the costs of the treatment have been estimated in America at US $70,000 which would be about 100 and 55,000. New Zealand. Is there any [00:05:00] real comparison between the costs of treatment in America, where they have a very different health system and the costs of treatment which we would expect for patients in New Zealand? Probably not, um as the American system is much more expensive. But in New Zealand we are still going to get the situation where AIDS sufferers are going to require a lot of very intensive care situation. That sort of medical attention, which which well, it may not be all that much more expensive [00:05:30] in New Zealand and some other services is gonna tie up a lot of very necessary hospital facilities for long periods of time and in fact may force um, hospital boards and people to invest in in more intensive care situations which are very expensive. Um, some hospital boards have said, well, we would just cope, and it would just the in service existing hospital system would cope, but I think they're being a little short sighted. Um, if we suddenly had 10 cases of AIDS in New Zealand or requiring two or three months, uh, long [00:06:00] intensive care, nursing and management. Um, I think, you know, that would basically take all the existing intensive care, uh, nursing facilities in New Zealand out of out of use for other things. And that's not feasible. Really. So money spent on prevention is a good investment. If it avoids cases. Oh, definitely. I mean, it's it's really hard in some ways to try and look at this, uh, human tragedy in economic terms, but unfortunately to in a situation where [00:06:30] the health budget is is being trimmed and pruned, uh, this we have to actually make a case that a preventative campaign and funding for a preventive campaign now will save money. And, you know, we've had estimates that, you know, if we prevent 10 cases of AIDS, we could save a million dollars, and I don't think that is un an unreasonable estimate. How much money. Then does the aid support network, uh, feel it needs for the work in the current or next year within the next year? We It's really [00:07:00] unsure. Um, we're looking at somewhere somewhere between $6500 I would say in the next year, just on publicity. Media publications, printing costs, training volunteers. Um, that's the sort of budget that we have to realistically look at and operating, uh, special SDD clinics. That's another point that we're negotiating at this stage with the Health Department and the hospital boards. Because SD DS are a service [00:07:30] that fit between the two, and each is reluctant to put too much more money into it. And, um, that has explained the neglect of SDD services for the last few years. Basically, everyone else has seen it as somebody else's responsibility, and, uh, hopefully AIDS will force people to, um, make sure that the services are being done by someone and being funded directly by someone. And we're trying to get that improved, too, Um SDD clinics, just in case people [00:08:00] don't realise our VD clinics, it's STD, a sexually transmitted disease. It's the new jargon for VD clinics. There's already a, um, a special SDD clinic run by the gay community in Christchurch and one is about to be set up in Wellington. You were trying to set one up in Auckland a little while ago, but we're running into opposition from some quarters. How's work in that field going now? It's progressing slowly, but I think within a month we will see something open in in Auckland and it will be something official and [00:08:30] directly funded in many ways by the Health Department and Hospital Board. And that will give us a much firmer basis than the sort of, uh, temporary measures that have been set up in Wellington and Christchurch. And we're hoping Auckland will act as the model for the rest of the country and we will see that similar things more, more official, uh, alternative run clinics in these centres and perhaps in other centres. The majority of the work will still have to be done by volunteers from the Aid Support Network and perhaps from some of the gay groups. [00:09:00] Uh, we want to make these places friendly, welcoming places where there's time spent giving people information about how to prevent, uh, sexually transmitted diseases. At the moment, the DD clinics are so overworked, all they can do is brush people through, give them some pills and send them out again with very little information of how to avoid catching what they've just been treated for. Bruce Burnett, Thank you very much.
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