New research shows one in five gay or bisexual men in Auckland who are infected with HIV are unaware of it.
Dr Peter Saxton of Otago University tested more than a thousand gay or bisexual men in Auckland, with one in 15 testing positive for HIV.
Of those who tested positive, 20% had no idea they were infected. And because the research was conducted anonymously they still may be unaware.
"Many of them would've held quite strong convictions that they were negative, and probably would've quite honestly communicated that to sexual partners," said Dr Saxton.
Bruce Kilmister from HIV support group Body Positive told ONE News the high rate is a concern.
"They are not aware of treatment, they're not being looked after and again they're exposing themselves to other people as well," said Kilmister, who is HIV positive.
Kilmister said that some people in the gay community wait too long, a year or more, between tests.
"If you think of all the casual sexual experiences in that time, there's a real risk of an epidemic here," he said.
HIV testing is free in New Zealand, and the results are
available in around 60 seconds.
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