HIV diagnoses among men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) in New Zealand have hit an all time high, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation reported today. The figures show that in 2005, there was one new infection among MSM every four days. There were 89 new HIV diagnoses, a nearly one-fifth increase on the previous highest figure in 2004. Almost all these new infections wre contracted in New Zealand, and almost all in the North Island. Three out of every four new HIV diagnoses reported were from MSM in Auckland. NZAF board chair Hoani Jeremy Lambert says the latest figures are "deeply disturbing", and the Foundation will need to re-energise community support.. "If we are to succeed in turning these figures around we need the support of the leaders, business operators, community organisations and individuals in the gay community," he says. "In the early days of the HIV epidemic it was grassroots support for the safe sex message that produced the dramatic successes in reducing HIV incidence among New Zealand MSM." NZAF executive director Rachael LeMesurier says the statistics point to an increase of unprotected anal intercourse among MSM, a worrying trend in light of the abundance of knowledge in the community about the consequences of unsafe sex. "There is no other explanation for this increase," she says, "other than the fact that more HIV positive men – whether they know their status or not – are choosing to have unprotected anal intercourse and more HIV negative men are choosing to have unsafe sex with men whose HIV status they don't know." Other major factors highly likely to be influencing the increase include the success of HIV treatments causing people to be less worried about avoiding HIV; the growth of internet dating, which is hugely increasing the opportunities men have for sex; the integration of the gay community into the "mainstream" making it harder to target HIV prevention messages designed for MSM; and the eroticisation of unsafe sex." Le Mesurier says the most effective thing the gay men can do to help turn the HIV statistics around is to end what seems to be a growing community tolerance of unprotected anal intercourse. No condom, no sex is a powerful message to give to prospective sex partners," she says. "If everyone were to use it, it wouldn't take long for those who sometimes don't use condoms to get the message that people who demand unprotected sex, will always get less sex."