The AIDS Foundation has hit back at suggestions that the rising tide of heterosexual HIV cases in New Zealand is the fault of gays, and that condoms are not effective in preventing the spread of the disease. Responding to several letters published in the NZ Herald over the last week, AIDS Foundation Executive Director Rachael LeMesurier says that the HIV strain spreading via heterosexuals in developing countries is different from those found among MSM. "Money could be spent on tracing who was to blame and when, or we could follow the advice in the [Herald] editorial and use our resources to ensure we regain the attention of those most at risk,” she says in a published letter to the editor. "There are many diseases that affect only specific parts of our society...yet most New Zealanders are proud to live in a civilised and caring society that does not limit our care or our support to the illnesses that everyone may get."