Thu 4 Jun 2015 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Shaun Robinson 1.15am: A range of factors may be behind the latest rise in HIV diagnosis figures amongst men who have sex with men, according to the HIV prevention team at the NZ AIDS Foundation which is already working its way through what is being described as an unusually dense and detailed report on the all-time high 2014 annual HIV diagnosis figures. "Gay, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to be the most affected group," says the NZAF's Executive Director Shaun Robinson. "Of the 217 newly reported diagnoses, 136 (63 per cent) were MSM. Eighty-six (86) of these men were infected in New Zealand compared to 69 in 2013." "Some gay and bisexual men are simply not responding to the messages to use condoms and lubricant," Robinson says. "While 80 per cent of gay men are high condom users, 20 per cent are not. They may have concluded that HIV is not something to worry about or that they can tell who is infectious and who is not. Sadly this has led to new infections of HIV which remains an incurable disease." HIV testing numbers across New Zealand have nearly doubled in 10 years, according to Robinson. "This is likely to be diagnosing some of the 20 per cent of MSM who have HIV but do not know it. If the number of undiagnosed cases is reduced this is a good thing. While these men may have been infected some years ago these infections will be showing in the statistics in the year in which they were diagnosed. Once diagnosed, people with HIV can take medication that both improves their health and dramatically reduces their ability to pass on the virus." Temporary or permanent immigrants may also be contributing to the rise, with workers and students arriving from South East Asia, where HIV is more prevalent and prevention programmes are negligible. "New migrant populations are coming to New Zealand in increasing numbers and many have different levels of understanding of sexuality and HIV/AIDS," Robinson notes. "These changes are demonstrated by the [increasing] number of Asian MSM being diagnosed with HIV... Nearly 1 in 6 of the MSM who contracted HIV in 2014 was infected overseas where efforts to promote condom use have been far less effective." And each year as the number of gay and bi men with HIV increases the likelihood of HIV being transmitted increases. Robinson explains that "if diagnosed early people with HIV now live a full life span, thanks to modern treatment. This is a major improvement on the situation in the 1980s and 1990s. It also means that there is pressure on the prevention of HIV as there are more people each year that can potentially pass on the virus to someone else."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 4th June 2015 - 1:12am