Michael Stevens The AIDS Foundation will not be commenting on an allegation that some of its own staff do not always follow its much-promoted single-message strategy of 'condom use every time' to protect gay and bi men from HIV infection. The allegation came in a GayNZ.com comment piece penned by ex-NZAF chair and HIV-positive health campaigner Michael Stevens. He sugegsted the NZAF should be publicly embracing additional prevention strategies in the light of three consecutive years of increases in new HIV diagnoses and changing social and medical environments. "I know for a fact that people who work for the NZAF do not follow [the condom every time for anal sex] advice themselves, they know there are situations when it’s fine for them not to wrap up," Stevens wrote. "This is because we live in a very different world when it comes to HIV than we did in 1985. But if their behaviour doesn’t follow their own advice it points to the disconnect that now exists between what the messengers tell us and the real world we live in." Eschewing condoms "was not something they did in a light-hearted or casual manner, it was about love and relationships," Stevens subsequently elaborated to GayNZ.com Daily News. "But the NZAF says they are not good enough reasons to stop using rubbers. That's how they have boxed themselves in, because there are times when it is ok not to use condoms. And if you work in the industry you will know that you actually don't need to use them 100% of the time. The NZAF needs to be able to talk about these realities." The NZAF's executive director Shaun Robinson and health researcher Dr Peter Saxton were quick to counter Stevens' view of the current HIV prevention strategy. Even the West Australia AIDS Council, who are working against an HIV epidemic very similar in nature to the situation in this country, offered comment. "The comments by Michael Stevens describing the work of the NZAF as ‘ineffectual’, and as having ‘a blind spot’, and mentioning ‘congratulatory back-slapping’ is at best unhelpful. At worst, it demonstrates the limited ability of simple epidemiology to explain the full story of HIV prevention and is therefore a somewhat lazy response," the Council's Chief Executive Officer Andrew Burry said. Despite several times being offered the opportunity to publicly address Stevens' specific allegations and concerns regarding the NZAF's primary prevention message not being followed by some of its own staff, the NZAF have declined to comment. However, GayNZ.com understands through usually reliable sources that behind closed NZAF doors Stevens' prevention strategy comments have revealed conflicting views on the issue and that the Foundation is now engaged in some soul-searching including reviewing its policies and its interactions with the gay communities.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 11th June 2015 - 10:35am