LGBTIQ community demands urgent political commitment

MEDIA RELEASE: 08 FEBRUARY 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LGBTIQ community demands urgent political commitment and leadership as new HIV infections rise to highest ever

Ending HIV Big Gay Out 2017 – community rallies behind campaign to end new HIV infections by 2025

New HIV infections in New Zealand are at the highest they have ever been. More needs to be done to protect thousands of Kiwis most vulnerable to the virus.

We need urgent political commitment and investment that demonstrates real support for driving HIV transmission down in New Zealand.

Currently, around 3200 people in New Zealand are estimated to be living with HIV. Gay and bisexual men remain the population group most at risk. Of the 224 diagnoses in 2015, 153 were amongst gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Of the 109 people infected with HIV in New Zealand in 2015, 88, or 81%, were gay and bisexual men.

We face arguably the most critical junction in this country’s response to HIV. The longer we take to make available the full suite of HIV prevention options the higher the numbers will grow.

Still today in New Zealand, immediate access to HIV treatment is not possible for those newly diagnosed. This is despite all scientific evidence and WHO recommendations that immediate treatment is not only the best thing for individual health but can also greatly reduce the risk of onward transmission.

New Zealand is also lagging in the effective roll out of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the use of HIV medication by HIV negative people at highest risk of HIV acquisition to drastically reduce their risk of contracting HIV. Truvada, the HIV medicine used as PrEP, is still not approved for HIV prevention in New Zealand and guidelines around prescribing and use are therefore non-existent. Alongside the maintenance of condom use, these treatment based prevention interventions hold the key to ending the transmission of new HIV infections in New Zealand.

“There is a real opportunity for us to turn the trend of rising infections around. Unfortunately, it is alarming to see cuts across the sector. We’re seriously concerned that the periodic surveys of community knowledge and behaviours that organisations like NZAF use to underpin our strategic and operational decisions have not been funded for their scheduled repeat in 2017,” says Jason Myers, Executive Director, New Zealand AIDS Foundation. “We can end HIV in New Zealand but not without urgently renewed high level political commitment, adequate funding and sector wide collaboration.”

ENDING HIV, New Zealand AIDS Foundation’s new campaign, aims to empower gay and bisexual men with information about a combination of prevention options that can reduce the risk of HIV transmission or prevent it completely. It also raises awareness of supporting people living with HIV.

The ENDING HIV campaign aims to maintain rates of condom use, make the preventative medication PrEP* available to those who need it, find undiagnosed HIV infection through increased testing and provide more immediate treatment to people diagnosed with HIV. The campaign is also vital in reducing the stigma around HIV.

The longer we take to make available the full suite of HIV prevention options the higher the numbers will grow, and the higher the costs to our communities in treating the disease.

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