Mark Fisher Body Positive, the nation's largest HIV-positive peer support organisation which caters mostly to gay and bi men, has received an increase in the amount of funding it receives from the government. Under a three-year agreement Body Positive will see it's annual contribution from the Ministry of Health rise from $100,000 to $150,000. It's overall budget is generally in the $600,000 - 700,000 range depending on the vagaries of available funding. Last year it ran at a loss of $20,000 says new general manager Mark Fisher. Fisher says the new money will be primarily used to cover salaries, particularly to underpin the cost of running its Wellington office for which it receives very little direct funding. The new money will also be used for peer-led support services, referrals to health services and programmes to address stigma and discrimination. Historically Body Positive received no government finding until 2011 but after an independent report into HIV services conducted by Dr David Miller it and the other, much smaller HIV support organisations, were granted $100,000 per year each. "This starts to recognise the scale of the services we provide," Fisher says. "We're really happy about the increase, it's really good and positive and underscores the excellent relationship we have with the Ministry." Fisher says he is hopeful that the Ministry can be prevailed upon to provide more funding for services which currently rely on more unstable and unpredictable sources such as annual requests made to charitable trusts.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 15th January 2015 - 11:02am