Leading HIV and sexual health experts are warning the government that New Zealand is beginning to lose control of the HIV epidemic amongst gay and bisexual men, but they say a broad-based solution is available to regain control and even wipe the epidemic out. Last year 117 gay and bisexual men were newly diagnosed with HIV infection with the majority of those having contracted the disease within New Zealand. This annual rate, the highest ever, follows an upwards trend in recent years. New Zealand has historically been a leader in controlling HIV infection with good adherence to safe sexual practices but changing patterns of making sexual hookups through apps and social media has contributed to a slight but significant weakening of condom culture. Other sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhoea are also markedly rising amongst gay and bi men, a further indication that condom use is slipping. New Zealand is not alone in the recent HIV increase. "In many countries, we are watching HIV prevention amongst gay and bisexual men unravelling, spurring an urgency to adapt our own responses now, before the achievements of the past thirty years are squandered," researchers Peter Saxton, Tony Hughes and Massimo Giola say in a strongly-worded report published today in the NZ Medical Journal. “Timely, science-based action was fundamental to New Zealand’s early successes. We need to activate the same spirit of bi-partisan political engagement, cooperation and urgency now,” says Saxton. His statement echoes a strongly worded statement by the NZ AIDS Foundation that new, complementary, prevention tools are available but that the government has lost its sense of commitment to funding the necessary new prevention work. The NZAF has said the government's approach to the resurgent HIV epidemic is a decade out of date. “Coordinated action can virtually eliminate HIV transmission in New Zealand in a few years. This isn’t just an aspirational goal, it’s achievable. But government must act next by making HIV treatment available to everyone on diagnosis, and by supporting a local PrEP project for the small number most at risk of HIV,” Saxton says. PrEP is a prevention technique which makes powerful HIV medications available to uninfected men who, for various reasons, are especially reluctant or unable to use condoms. The technique is increasingly proven to be a valuable tool for HIV prevention but so far the government has shown no real commitment to funding it. Other actions the researchers want to see the government supporting right away include increasingly sophisticated marketing and promotion of condom use and widespread prompt testing for HIV which may also include 'home test' kits. “If we’re successful we’ll see fewer transmissions in the community, lower healthcare costs long term, and the government can rightly trumpet its achievement at being among the first to control the HIV epidemic. Or, we can watch and wait as the epidemic unnecessarily continues to unfold in front of our eyes” says Saxton. HIV infection is avoidable and unnecessary, say the report's authors. "Today’s prevention tools offer the possibility of virtually eliminating HIV transmission if we can re-activate the spirit of cooperation that defined New Zealand’s early successes."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 4th December 2015 - 9:19pm