Fri 4 Mar 2011 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Shaun Robinson More gay and bisexual men than ever before are contracting HIV in New Zealand, the latest HIV diagnosis figures indicate, with 2010 "the worst year on record" for HIV diagnoses. The past record number of diagnoses for gay and bi men's HIV diagnoses in this country was 93, in 2008. The 2010 figures, just released by the AIDS Epidemiology Group at Otago University, show 90 confirmed diagnoses. A further ten of those for whom the method of transmission or sexuality is unknown are likely to be gay or bi. "This epidemic has never been worse in New Zealand," says the newly appointed Executive Director of the NZ AIDS Foundation, Shaun Robinson. "Not even in the early days of AIDS in the 1980s," - just after the discovery of the already rampant epidemic - "were rates of infection for gay and bisexual men this bad in New Zealand." "HIV has staged a counter attack on gay communities through things like internet-based sexual networking and having a larger number of people living with HIV as a launching pad," Robinson says. The best available estimate of the number of people living with HIV in New Zealand, given that some people with the virus will not be aware of it, is 1,800. The majority of these are gay and bi men. The NZAF has long highlighted research which shows that gay men in New Zealand have very high rates of condom use, but Robinson says that is clearly no longer enough. He is promising "dramatic changes" in the fight against the debilitating virus. "The only way to control this epidemic is to respond as a community... we all have to fight back, smarter and harder" against the spread of HIV, Robinson says. You can discuss this New Zealand glbt community news story in the GayNZ.com Forum.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 4th March 2011 - 11:26am