courtesy New Zealand AIDS Foundation
Nice to have a condom ad that is targeting the gays and aint all scarrrrrrry.
[Official description: Get it On! wants to encourage everyone in New Zealand to get behind a condom culture. Last year saw the highest number of new HIV diagnoses in New Zealand history, with gay and bisexual men most at risk. Get it On! is a call to action for everyone to use condoms every time they have sex, and to support the gay and bisexual men in their lives in their safe sex choices.]
Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, June 16, 2008
Gay blood donors in New Zealand: OK if no sex for 5 years
via GayNZ.comAt a time when the New Zealand Blood Service says the need for people to regularly donate blood is more urgent than ever, an independent expert review has confirmed that men who have had anal or oral sex with other men in the last five years should still be excluded from donating their blood.
The NZ Blood Service's rules currently exclude men who have had sex with men in the last ten years from giving blood, as that group of people are shown to be more likely to have contracted HIV. But the expert review paper released today recommends that the time period be reduced to five years, as this would not put the blood supply at any more risk of HIV exposure.
Read the rest.
[and then tell us, does this make any sense???]
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
HIV-Positive People in New Zealand Have High Condom Use Rates, Survey Says
The majority of HIV-positive people in New Zealand use condoms during "casual" sex, according to a survey released on Friday by Jeffrey Grierson at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, the New Zealand Herald reports.
Grierson surveyed 261 of the estimated 1,500 HIV-positive people in the country last year, about half of whom reported having sex with casual partners six months prior to the study. According to the findings, 52 of the 59 people who reported not knowing the HIV status of their most recent casual sexual partner said they used condoms. Four of the six who said their most recent partner was HIV-positive reported using condoms, and all of the nine people who said their partner was HIV-negative said they used condoms, the Herald reports.
Grierson said, "Most people are using some form of protection when there's a possibility of transmission (of HIV), but there's a small number of cases where that's not happening." He said that people knowing their HIV status "is a big motivator for condom use." Grierson also noted that condom use among men who have sex with men has decreased overall, but remains high among HIV-positive MSM. According to the findings, 63% of MSM surveyed said it was legally OK for people to not tell their partners their HIV status if they used a condom during sex (Johnston, New Zealand Herald, 4/12).
The study, titled "HIV Futures NZ2," was conducted in conjunction with the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, Body Positive, Positive Women and several community organizations, according to a NZAF release. It was also funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Health. It is the second HIV Futures study on the topic since 2002.
Other findings from the study included:
- An increase in the use of antiretroviral treatment;
- An increase from 53% in 2001 to 62% last year in the proportion of survey participants in paid employment;
- A reduction in the problems with drug timing and those reporting difficulties using antiretrovirals; and
- A drop from 33% in 2001 to 19% last year among people reporting that their HIV status had been disclosed without their permission.
Comments
The report "documents the significant improvements in health and well-being from the original survey conducted six years ago," Grierson said. "However, there are still major challenges for people living with HIV that include maintaining a good level of health and participating fully in their communities," he noted, adding that the "report provides a critical opportunity to reflect on the response to HIV in New Zealand and to ensure future efforts benefit all people with HIV in this country."
NZAF National Positive Health Manager Eamonn Smythe, said, "It is heartening to know that the increase in availability of treatments for people with HIV has had such a positive result; however, it is clear that there are still several social issues related to an HIV diagnosis that still need to be addressed." Smythe added that NZAF "will take this opportunity to ensure services in the future for HIV-positive people are planned using relevant and up to date research" (NZAF release, 4/11).
The survey is available online.
Monday, March 17, 2008
HIV diagnoses stable among NZ gay men
A reduced level of New Zealand gay and bisexual HIV diagnoses reported in 2006 has been maintained for 2007, figures released today by the AIDS Epidemiology Group indicate.
156 new HIV diagnoses were recorded in 2007, with 71 of these being men who were infected through sex with another man.
The majority of the diagnoses (75%) were infections that were reported to have occurred in New Zealand. The average age of diagnosis was 41, with most of the men being European (72%), and living in the North Island (87%), mostly in Auckland.
"Diagnoses among gay and bisexual men reached a peak in 2005, and came down in 2006, which was encouraging," says Eamonn Smythe, Acting Executive Director of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation.
Read the rest.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Study into why gay men avoid condoms despite rising HIV rates
[via Massey News of Massey University - New Zealand ]
Researchers want to find out why gay and bisexual men tend not to use condoms for sex despite the trebling of new HIV cases in New Zealand in the past seven years.
They want 58 men from the Auckland region who have sex with men to take part anonymously in on-line discussions and individual interviews.
The study is a collaboration between researchers from Massey’s Centre for Social and Health Outcomes Research and Evaluation (SHORE), the Maori health research group, Te Ropu Whariki and the School of Health Sciences at the University’s Auckland campus.
In addition to men who openly identify as gay, lead researcher Jeff Adams says the team is looking for other men who have sex with men to take part.
“The key thing here is we are particularly interested in speaking with men who don’t like, or don’t use, condoms for anal sex with other men. We’d like to discuss why condoms aren’t working for them, and what alternative strategies or methods they may use for protecting themselves against HIV.”
The data compiled by the Massey University research team will be used by the Aids Foundation to develop a further understanding of the context around the burgeoning HIV epidemic among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, which has been steadily growing since 2001.
Figures released by the Aids Epidemiology Group in March showed that of 89 of people diagnosed with HIV in New Zealand last year, 70 were gay or bisexual men.
HIV diagnoses have increased markedly in recent years. In 2000 there were 31 cases, 38 in 2001, 53 in 2002, 74 in 2003, 75 in 2004 and 90 in 2005. The increase is concentrated among gay pakeha men in Auckland, aged between 30 and 39.
Any man who has sex with other men who would like to take part or who want further information should contact the research team on 0800 MSM Talk. msm@massey.ac.nz or go to www.shore.ac.nz/msm.html
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