New Zealand's most prominent gay men's sexual health researcher was last night honoured for his work, at the Australasian Sexual Health Conference. Dr Peter Saxton (second from right) with his award, accompanied by NZ sexual health colleagues Dr Peter Saxton, from the University of Auckland School of Population Health, was awarded the 2016 Australasian Sexual Health Alliance Mid-Career Interdisciplinary Achiever Award for outstanding interdisciplinary achievement in sexual health. The award was presented last night at the Australasian Sexual Health Conference in Adelaide. The award comes just weeks after the Ministry of Health decided not to fund the 2017 edition of the Saxton-led research into the drivers of the gay and bi male HIV epidemic, leaving sexual health agencies relying on out of date data from three years ago. Saxton says the lack of 2017 data will be a "setback" for HIV prevention work. He also notes "slow progress" on making immediate access to HIV treatments on diagnosis and the medication-based PrEP HIV prevention technique. “HIV and syphilis cases are increasing, and chlamydia and gonorrhoea remain serious infectious diseases affecting New Zealanders”, he says. “They are also defined by severe inequalities across ethnicity and sexual orientation.” “The exciting news is we can reverse these trends with smart science, policy and practices. We must be ambitious. We can have a huge impact on health if we work in partnership.” He notes as highlights of the past year securing HPV vaccination for males up to age 26: "a world first," research on a possible gonorrhoea vaccine, and marking 30 years of HIV prevention. Saxton, who is the inaugural NZ AIDS Foundation Fellow based in the Department of Social and Community Health at Auckland University and who collaborates with the Immunisation Advisory Centre and the Centre for Addiction Research, says underfunding such basic health work endangers gay and bi men's health. “80% of HIV and syphilis in New Zealand occurs among gay and bisexual men. Disinvestment in these key areas and in sexual health services, especially in Auckland, makes this a gay community issue. People are contracting HIV needlessly. Gay communities should be asking their health authorities and political representatives what their plan is to reduce infections and how their proposals will achieve this.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 17th November 2016 - 8:36pm