-
Source: ONE News -
Watch Video
-
Related
New Zealand has recorded its highest ever number of HIV infections.
While heterosexual men and women are still picking it up and passing it on, gay and bisexual males are still most at risk.
Some are worried they are ignoring safe sex messages, which may result in what they are calling an epidemic poised to get even worse.
The way HIV-positive Michael Stevens talks about living with HIV is sobering.
"It's a constant reminder of sickness and of death and to me all the gains I've made feel so fragile," he says.
Twenty years after being diagnosed he now takes 16 pills each day. Prior to this he used to take 47.
Stevens says this is not a disease you simply treat with drugs.
In 2008, 184 new HIV infections were diagnosed in New Zealand. That is the highest number ever recorded in one year and at least 91 of those were gay or bisexual men.
There is concern among the gay community that condom use is lax, especially among the younger generation.
While many men meet socially, the internet is also a hot bed of sexual activity. It's a secret space where Stevens says some people push the boundaries.
"If you're HIV negative and I know I'm HIV negative then we can both throw out the condoms," he says.
Since 1993 there has been a massive increase in funding for those infected with HIV.
But combine record infection rates with positive people living longer because of increasingly effective treatment and you've got a situation that could spiral out of control.
Stevens says all you need is one twisted individual.
"... And you can suddenly have 10 or 20 new infections from one source in one city in a year," he says.
The disease is also becoming less visible. Physical symptoms such as gaunt face and discoloured skin are now treated with modern medicine. In the past it was these sights that used to scare many into safer sex practices.
Nationally and internationally, HIV prevention campaigns are common but they are not in our face like they used to be. However, HIV is here to stay and ignorance is not an option, prevention really is the only cure the world has got.
