Shaun Robinson The NZ government's HIV strategy is ten years out of date and our politicians need to get back in the HIV prevention game, according to the head of the NZ AIDS Foundation. Despite improvements in treatments, historical successes and a changing HIV landscape in this country and globally, the annual number of new HIV diagnoses amongst NZ gay and bisexual men has over several years climbed to the highest level since the epidemic struck three decades ago. NZAF executive director Shaun Robinson is clear that much more could be done with more effective levels of funding to provide better access to HIV medications, improved testing and support programmes and more than minimal research into the health issues of men who have sex with men.. “This is not only the right thing to do in human terms but the smart thing to do financially," Robinson says in an interview with GayNZ.com conducted in the lead-up to World AIDS Day on December 1st. "Every new HIV infection costs the country $800,000 to $1 million over the life of the person. With 100 to 150 people a year contracting HIV the growing cost to the country is astronomical. Investment that would really drop this persistent level of infections over five years would be highly cost effective. The final push to get HIV transmissions to zero is good for everyone.” Robinson lays the blame for the slackened focus on HIV squarely at the doors of the country's politicians. “The official New Zealand government HIV strategy for New Zealand is a decade out of date,” he says. “There have always been really good people in the Ministry of Health and Pharmac who have done their very best for the communities affected by HIV, but there has not been much political support from governments of various colours for a long time.” Robinson believes there are some glimmers of hope in a mounting number of recommendations government agencies have received from prevention and support experts, the government's own advisers and even the World Health Organisation. "The next six months will tell us if government will get back in the game and help New Zealand take advantage of the new opportunities to really get on top of HIV in this country.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 23rd November 2015 - 11:07pm