Number of people diagnosed in NZ (red=gay/bi) yearly 1985-2011 6.00pm: A stunning one third drop in new HIV infections diagnosed amongst gay and bi men has been announced by HIV epidemic researchers. In 2010 New Zealand had its highest ever annual number of locally-diagnosed new infections with, allowing for some men for whom their sexuality or means of transmission was not officially recorded, 100 gay and bi men discovering they had HIV. It was the worst year on record since the start of the devastating HIV epidemic and fed fears of a continuance of the slow but steady rise evident since the year 2000. But in figures released moments ago 59 men known to be gay or bi were diagnosed in 2011 with a likely further ten men, by initial GayNZ.com Daily News reckoning, likely to be gay or bi but hidden amongst those for whom their sexuality is not known. The news is welcomed by the AIDS Epidemiology Group researcher who has tracked the figures annually since the start of the epidemic in the mid 1980s. “This is good news," says Professor Nigel Dickson, but he sounds a cautionary note. “Nevertheless, as the number of people with HIV diagnosed will depend on the amount of HIV testing, a drop in the actual infection rate on the basis of one year’s figures cannot be assumed. Hopefully we will continue to see a decrease together with a high testing rate that will indicate a real drop in new infections”. Place of gay/bi infections (black=within NZ) In another promising result the number of men infected both within New Zealand and overseas has dropped. “The drop in diagnoses does not mean less risk for those having unprotected sex," says Dickson. "This will be dependent on the number of people with HIV in the population, particularly those who do not know they are infected, as well as how people act. A recent Auckland study found that about 20% of a sample of gay and bisexual men with HIV were unaware of their HIV status”. “Together these findings reinforce the need to continue our programme of HIV prevention among men who have sex with men, which focuses on encouraging condom use to reduce the risk of HIV transmission, and HIV testing to detect infection early if it does occur,” Dickson says. The AIDS Epidemiology Group is based at the University of Otago and is funded by the Ministry of Health. You can discuss this New Zealand gay community news story in the GayNZ.com Forum.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 8th March 2012 - 5:24pm