Sun 26 Jun 2011 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
A long-running fund established and administered by the NZ AIDS Foundation to provide last resort financial assistance to HIV positive people has been handed over to an organisation representing people living with the debilitating virus. As responsibility for running the Wellness Fund changed hands on Friday night NZAF Trust Board Chair Alastair Cameron presented a cheque for the $8,000 balance of the fund to his Body Positive counterpart Scott Johnston. Alastair Cameron "This represents another step in the collaboration between our two organisations as we seek to support those living with HIV and combat the rising epidemic among gay and bisexual men" said Cameron. Johnston agreed, stating that "Body Positive will be working with the NZAF to raise World AIDS Day funds that will be used for the Wellness Fund and HIV prevention." The Wellness Fund was established by the NZAF in the 1980s at the height of the first wave of the then-deadly epidemic to provide funding for "treatments, palliative care, food, counselling and therapeutic interventions as part of an overall wellness programme," according to the NZAF. It says approximately 100 to 150 people access the fund each year. The fund now specifically covers only HIV-related health costs for people living with HIV who have a community services card. "New Zealand’s HIV peer support groups have members that are often the main recipients of grants from the Wellness Fund so it’s appropriate that National Collective of People Living with HIV manage the fund" says Cameron. Johnston emphasises that "the Wellness Fund will continue to be available for any person living with HIV regardless of whether they are a member of an HIV peer support group or not." The Wellness fund is one of several HIV-related resources which HIV peer support organisations have in recent times lobbied to have fully operated by HIV positive people themselves. The HIV Positive Speakers Bureau has already been returned, it is now operated for the National Collective of People Living with HIV by one of the Collective's constituent organisations, Positive Women. Collective Thinking, the long-running national information magazine for HIV positive people was initially produced by HIV positive gay men but was absorbed by the NZAF when it became difficult to sustain some years ago. The NZAF last year made a now seemingly aborted attempt to take it online. Calls for CT to now be returned to the HIV Positive community have resulted in the NZAF launching a series of consultations including a poll of CT readers late last year. Despite repeated requests for it to reveal the outcome of that poll and clarify the future status of Collective Thinking the NZAF has still not released any information. Anyone wishing to access the Wellness Fund should contact Body Positive for an application form on 0800 HIV LINE (0800 448 5463) or office@bodypositive.org.nz. You can discuss this New Zealand gay community new story in the GayNZ.com Forum.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 26th June 2011 - 11:52am