Review of services for people living with HIV in New Zealand

Christmas dinner serving 100 or more.Free internet access at BP House.Vitamin bank – vitamins are sold at cost through BP.Food bank – this can be accessed at the City Mission through the BP services coordinator.Positively Living pot luck dinners – this is a monthly informal meal and discussion for up to20 members.Straight Arrow Dinner – this is a monthly dinner for heterosexual PLHA, for up to 15 members.Naked Nutrition – this is an annual healthy‐eating participative workshop.Budgeting service – this is a budget framework support service linked to WINZ benefits.PublicationsIn addition to its website, BP communicates with its members through the monthly PositivelyPositive newsletter (both in hard copy and electronically), providing up‐to‐date information andreminders of clinics and up‐coming events; it also produces a regular insert in the Expressnewspaper.In March 2010, BP recorded 375 visitors to the Body Positive Centre, along with 538 telephone callsand 71 calls for rapid testing.BP is very much a peer support organisation, in that its administration, governance and direction aredetermined by those directly affected by HIV – all board members and staff are HIV positive. BPreports an ‘active’ membership of 419 persons: 92.6 percent are male, with an average age of44 years and 7.4 percent are female, with an average age of 42 years. 16.5 percent self‐identify asheterosexual and 83.5 percent as homosexual. Body Positive sees its function primarily in terms ofcare and support for PLHA, rather than prevention. It describes some complementarity with fellowHIV NGOs, for example through the Positive Speakers Bureau and the Wellness Fund (of which theNZAF are bursars).BP receives no Government funding – all its funding comes from philanthropic organisations, makingthe organisation vulnerable to broader economic circumstances. The recent recession has led tothree staff positions being disestablished.Perhaps one of the most visible developments in BP’s recent history has been the provision of rapidHIV testing: on‐site in BP House, at the K Road Clinic and in each of five ‘sex on site’ venues inAuckland. Between May 2008 and January 2010, BP conducted 496 rapid tests (93 percent of themfor men, 7 percent in women), of which nine (1.8 percent) yielded positive results. BP’s data revealsspiking in numbers testing during specific campaigns and at times of national HIV‐related controversy(for example the 2009 ‘HIV predator’ case in New Zealand).The average age of those tested was 36 years among males and 30 among females. 69 percent ofthose BP tested self‐identified as homosexual, 18 percent as heterosexual and 11 percent as bisexual.61 percent self‐identified as European, 16 percent as Asian, 9 percent as Māori and 5 percent asPacific Islander. Eight of the nine positive test results were among homosexual men.BP is of the clear view that the provision of rapid HIV tests is a necessary adjunct to the detailed preandpost‐test counselling that is the norm in rapid test provision in other settings, such as the BurnettCentre. By providing those who otherwise might never access formal HIV test services with theopportunity to be tested, BP sees itself having a vital role in developing HIV awareness andREVIEW OF SERVICES FOR PLHA 33