HIV/AIDS in New Zealand

There is a relatively low prevalence of HIV/AIDS in New Zealand, with an estimated 2,900 people out a population of 4.51 million living with HIV/AIDS as of 2014. The rate of newly diagnosed HIV infections was stable at around 100 annually through the late 1980s and the 1990s but rose sharply from 2000 to 2005. It has since stabilised at roughly 200 new cases annually. Male-to-male sexual contact has been the largest contributor to new HIV cases in New Zealand since record began in 1985. Heterosexual contact is the second largest contributor to new cases, but unlike male-to-male contact, they are mostly acquired outside New Zealand. In 2018 the New Zealand Government reported a “major reduction” in the number of people diagnosed with HIV.

World AIDS Day is observed in New Zealand.

History
The first recorded death in New Zealand from AIDS-related conditions was in New Plymouth in April 1984.

In 1985, Eve van Grafhorst was ostracised in Australia since she had contracted HIV/AIDS from a transfusion of infected blood. The family moved to New Zealand where she died aged 11. By the time of her death, her plight had significantly raised the level of AIDS awareness in New Zealand.

Organisations
The Ministry of Health is the government department which deals with health issues, including HIV/AIDS.

The New Zealand AIDS Foundation changed its name to the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa in 2022 after Bruce Burnett. It is a registered charitable trust and has a focus on prevention of AIDS in the most at-risk group, namely men who have sex with men.

Other organisations that assist with people living with HIV include Body Positive Inc is a support and network organisation for people living with HIV in New Zealand. Positive Women is a service that looks after women who are HIV positive.

The INA Foundation is a Kaupapa Māori organisation that supports HIV positive people named after Immanuel and Noelle who died as infants of HIV and Apihaka who lived despite both parents being HIV.

Other places that support and inform are the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective and New Zealand Family Planning sexual health clinics. The New Zealand Prostitutes Collective started in 1987 and in 1988 signed contract with the Ministry of Health with "a focus on HIV and Aids".

Antiretroviral medications
The Pharmaceutical Management Agency (Pharmac) manages the national schedule of subsidised medications. As of 2014, twenty-one different antiretroviral medications were subsidised for people with confirmed HIV/AIDS or for post-exposure prophylaxis.

In March 2018, New Zealand became one of the first countries in the world to publicly fund pre-exposure prophylaxis medication for those at a high risk of contracting HIV.