Steve Attwood For the last fifteen years the NZ AIDS Foundation's outgoing Communications Coordinator Steve Attwood has worked for what he terms "good cause" organisations. But that has to some extent come to an end with his appointment as Media and Strategy Manager for Manukau City Council. In his previous work Attwood was the media liaison manager for the Department of Conservation, earning plaudits for his skillful handling of the fallout from the Cave Creek disaster. He moved to the NZAF in October 1999 to be the South Island health promoter for the Gay Men's Health programme and subsequently became the Foundation's first Communications Coordinator in May 2004. For the first twelve months he ran the position from Christchurch but moved to NZAF head office in Auckland in May 2005. He is blunt that better money lured him away from the only organisation tackling New Zealand's resurgent HIV epidemic head on. "I have loved the 'good cause' work," says Attwood, "but unfortunately, these types of organisations are not competitive from a salary point of view. "Having recently turned 50 and realised that retirement is no longer so far away" he also realised that he had no significant assets or savings, “so I thought it was time to do something entirely selfish to help set me up for retirement so I don't have to totally depend on the Government in my dotage." Taking the brand new media position within NZAF and making it work has been rewarding and a highlight of his career, says Attwood. "One of the challenges that [Executive Director] Rachael le Mesurier put to me was to raise the media profile of NZAF in mainstream media and ensure that HIV and AIDS got a higher profile. I'm very pleased with the success of this objective. NZAF is now enjoying a consistently high media profile, mainstream media seems more willing to discuss gay HIV stories instead of just concentrating on hetero angles. Attwood says he is also pleased that the majority of the stories the NZAF generate are proactive rather than reactive, setting the news agenda rather than merely responding to media needs. "The Foundation has earned a reputation of being available, open and producing interesting and informative [news material].' He's also also "very proud" of the Communications role in the success of the Pan Pacific HIV and AIDS Conference held in Auckland last year. "We fielded media inquiries from throughout the world - dozens per day - and hosted a lot of media at the conference. For the first time major media networks (national and global) were highlighting and discussing in a meaningful way the issues of the potential HIV pandemic in New Zealand and the Pacific." As he prepares for his 27 April departure, Attwood says he remains deeply passionate about the work of the NZAF and its role of preventing the spread of HIV among men-who-have-sex-with-men. "I will continue to support this work in a voluntary way, possibly by helping mentor my replacement, and/or by volunteering to do safe sex promotion around the bars, venues and gay events or on the internet." He is especially concerned that a new era of HIV is upon us which sees gay men less concerned by the possibility of contracting HIV or subsequently developing AIDS. "I'm very worried that, from my own observations of the community I live and play in, increasing numbers of gay men seem to regard HIV much less seriously than in the past and are seemingly prepared to risk a lifetime of being on medication, just for the sake of a condomless fuck. "As someone who lives on a permanent pain control regime because of a spinal injury, I know what it is like to have to take pills day after day and manage your life around them and the side-effects they produce (and my pills are nowhere near as serious as HIV meds). I struggle to understand why men would choose to risk such a life when condoms are so readily available and so easy to use." Jay Bennie - 20th April 2006