Adding HIV to the Ministry of Health's list of notifiable conditions will help create an "HIV census", ensuring that anonymous data collection on New Zealand's HIV and AIDS epidemic is secured for the future, says the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF). The NZAF is supporting moves in the forthcoming Public Health Bill to make HIV a "notifiable" condition, providing the current anonymous coding system for AIDS reporting is retained. AIDS has been a notifiable condition since 1985 with no breaches of confidentiality. "AIDS represents the end result of HIV infection, and with the effectiveness of new treatments for HIV, information on AIDS notifications are increasingly less useful as a tool for tracking the spread of the epidemic," says Rachael Le Mesurier, Executive Director of the NZAF. New HIV diagnosis information is currently sent by GPs, sexual health clinics and NZAF centres to the AIDS Epidemiology Group at Otago University, who then collate the six-monthly AIDS New Zealand reports. This system has been in place since 1985 and has been entirely voluntary. Nearly 2,500 New Zealanders with HIV have given their permission for data on their diagnosis to be collected and published in AIDS New Zealand. "The AIDS Epidemiology Group currently receives information on over 95% of HIV diagnoses, but there is no legal requirement for this data to be collected," Le Mesurier says. "With the many demands placed on our health services, and the good news that treatments have drastically reduced AIDS deaths, we need to ensure that HIV is given the priority treatment it deserves by making the anonymous data collected secure for the future." "However, we need reliable data to map the changes in the HIV epidemic. For example, treatment-related deaths are a new complication that can only be monitored by analysing HIV diagnoses, rather than AIDS." Last November, the Co-General Facilitator of HIV+ people's support service Body Positive Auckland spoke out against moves to make notification of HIV become required by law. Bruce Kilmister pointed out that the information could be used against HIV+ people. "Body Positive is strongly against HIV becoming notifiable. We see it as a backward step that will further impede people presenting for HIV tests, because of their perceived fear of disclosure." For example, HIV+ people appearing on a medical health list could be blocked from certain jobs, says Kilmister. "If it is made notifiable, then the very least the Ministry can ensure is that a coded system is used, thus ensuring the protection of individuals from those who have access to the medical health computer system." The NZAF says that the coded data collection system for AIDS uses a coding system to obscure personal identities and their recommendation for notification of HIV would similarly not involve identification of HIV positive people. "This is about collecting the 'what', 'where' and 'how' of new HIV infections, not the 'who'," Le Mesurier explains. "The confidentiality of HIV positive New Zealanders must be protected. The Public Health Bill is currently before the Health Select Committee. The closing date for submissions is Friday 7 March 2008.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Friday, 22nd February 2008 - 2:04pm