Review of services for people living with HIV in New Zealand

The available data show that in the past 10 years, among those who have acquired HIV in NewZealand, Māori have had the same rate of HIV diagnosis as New Zealand Europeans. In 2008, the10 Māori identifying as takatāpui represented 16 percent of all MSM diagnosed in New Zealand.GAPSS and Gay men’s Online Sex Survey/Te Rangahau Tane ai Tane (2006) data show that the rate ofMSM having anal sex with a casual partner and not using a condom at least once in the previous sixmonths was roughly the same for Māori (40.9 percent) and New Zealand European (39.5 percent)MSM. These data also show that 69.9 percent of MSM had tested for HIV at least once in their life:the figure was higher among Māori (72.8 percent) and New Zealand European (72.1 percent) MSMthan it was among Pacific (40.9 percent) and Asian (51.6 percent) men.Table 2:Ethnicity ‡ by time of diagnosis in New Zealand for those found to be infected with HIVby antibody test and first viral load testSexEthnicityHIV infection*1996–2003 2004–2008 2009 TotalNo. % No. % No. % No. %MaleFemaleTransgenderEuropean/Pākehā 513 50.0 430 42.1 70 35.2 1013 45.1Māori† 60 5.8 75 7.3 9 4.5 144 6.4Pacific Island 18 1.8 25 2.4 5 2.5 48 2.1African 96 9.3 127 12.4 10 5.0 233 10.4Asian 91 8.9 81 7.9 18 9.0 190 8.5Other 19 1.9 35 3.4 18 9.0 72 3.2Unknown 22 2.1 25 2.4 25 12.6 72 3.2European/Pākehā 53 5.2 30 2.9 5 2.5 88 3.9Māori† 7 0.7 8 0.8 3 1.5 18 0.8Pacific Island 13 1.3 11 1.1 1 0.5 25 1.1African 88 8.6 130 12.7 17 8.5 235 10.5Asian 44 4.3 28 2.7 6 3.0 78 3.5Other 1 0.1 8 0.8 5 2.5 14 0.6Unknown 1 0.1 8 0.8 0 0.0 9 0.4Total 1 0.1 1 0.1 7 3.5 9 0.4TOTAL 1027 100.0 1022 100.0 199 100.0 2248 100.0‡ Information on ethnicity of people diagnosed with HIV has only been collected since 1996.* Includes people who have developed AIDS. HIV numbers are recorded by time of diagnosis for those reported throughantibody testing and by time of first viral load for those reported through viral load testing. The latter include manywho have initially been diagnosed overseas and not had an antibody test here. The date of initial diagnosis may havepreceded the viral load date by months or years.† Includes people who belong to Māori and another ethnic group.New Zealand has a sexual and reproductive health strategy (Ministry of Health 2001) that describesan overall vision for achieving satisfactory sexual and reproductive health for the New Zealandpopulation and outlines principles, international obligations, strategic context and strategicdirections. Among other things, it highlights the need to increase knowledge about safer sex and toprovide information on sexual and reproductive health; the risks of STIs (including HIV); andprevention, early diagnosis and treatment. However, it does not include an action plan for sexualhealth, in a form such as that of the operationalised plan for HIV/AIDS (Ministry of Health 2003).National surveillance is by voluntary data provision from sexual health clinics (SHCs), Family PlanningREVIEW OF SERVICES FOR PLHA 3