After a decade and a half of providing nursing and medical care specifically tailored to people with AIDS, Auckland's Herne Bay House is to close its doors, the Auckland City Mission has announced. Over the last 15 years, Herne Bay House has nursed more than 200 people with AIDS, predominantly gay men. However, Auckland City Mission spokesperson Dianne Robertson says a review has found that women and refugees are the new marginalised people. The New Zealand AIDS Foundation says it's concerned at the inference that that HIV/AIDS-related marginalisation of gay men is not the issue it once was and that the focus was shifting to heterosexually infected people. “The Foundation fully supports the extension of HIV/AIDS support initiatives to other affected groups, but it should be remembered that, of the new HIV transmissions that occurred within New Zealand in 2004, 89% were among men who have sex with men (MSM), and MSM still comprise more than 50% of the total number of people living with HIV in this country,” says Eamonn Smythe, National Positive Health Manager for NZAF. Both the Foundation and Auckland City Mission acknowledge that the demand for palliative care for people with AIDS has dramatically fallen since the introduction of improved HIV medications. However, the closure of Herne Bay House has left a gap in services which will need to be met in other ways, says the Foundation. The Auckland City Mission says it intends to shift its focus to more community-based care.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 6th September 2005 - 12:00pm