A major study into the rise in HIV diagnoses among gay and bisexual men in New Zealand has been released. The results come from a five year study and PhD thesis by Dr Peter Saxton, which was recently awarded ‘exceptional’ status by the University of Otago Medical School.
According to the University of Otago website ‘a thesis is of exceptional quality when all three examiners of a candidate's thesis agree that the thesis is of an exceptional standard in every respect - research content, originality, quality of expression and accuracy of presentation - and is amongst the top 10% of theses examined’.
The study combined offline and online behavioural surveys completed between 2002 and 2006, and an in-depth examination of HIV diagnoses from 1985-2005. Some of the many findings were that the sexual partnering patterns of gay and bisexual men are typically complex, that gay and bisexual men on internet dating sites reported riskier behaviours than others and that the growing number of gay and bisexual men living with HIV – many of whom will not be aware they are infected – present challenges to the eventual control of the epidemic.
“Preventing initial infection remains as key today as it did 25 years ago. Treatments for HIV have greatly improved, but they haven’t been the panacea for HIV control as some had hoped” states Saxton.
“One of the reasons for this is the great complexity in sexual partnering networks among the gay and bisexual male communities. Rapid partner change and overlapping relationships mean that unless condoms are used for anal sex, HIV is given many opportunities to infiltrate sexual networks.”
“This is because someone is substantially more infectious in the first few months after infection, they’re unlikely to know they’re infected, and they may well convince their sexual partners that they’re HIV negative.”
Gay and bisexual men’s dense sexual networks, in conjunction with HIV being transmitted more efficiently through anal sex, and undiagnosed acute infections “are often how clusters of HIV infection occur among gay men”, says Saxton. “HIV thrives in these conditions”.
“Encouraging and sustaining condom use with your peers is something gay men should be proud to do, because it is probably the only way we have to collectively control the epidemic”.
Saxton also investigated factors associated with non-condom use, HIV testing, differences between respondents recruited online and offline, and changes in key behaviours over time.
The findings have been presented to the NZAF and stakeholders like the Ministry of Health. “The urgent priority was to finish the thesis and release the initial findings to inform HIV prevention initiatives. Now papers will be prepared for academic publication. The full 600 page report is also available from the NZAF library in Auckland and LAGANZ in Wellington”.
Dr Peter Saxton is the Senior Researcher at the NZAF Research, Analysis and Information Unit and studied at the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago. His thesis is titled “HIV epidemiology and behavioural surveillance among men who have sex with men in New Zealand”.
For more information, please contact
Dawn O'Connor
National Communications Co-ordinator
New Zealand AIDS Foundation | Te Tūāpapa Mate Āraikore o Aotearoa
