New Zealand, decriminalising buggery and MSM
By Wayne West
19-Aug-2010
From Letters to the Editor (Jamaica Observer)
Dear Editor,
In his letter of August 17, Mr Maurice Tomlinson berated Mrs Betty Ann Blaine for suggesting a link between family life and abstinence education and control of HIV/AIDS. He then urged emulation of the New Zealand approach of decriminalising buggery for control of HIV, claiming that there were only 19 new cases of HIV in New Zealand, in 2009.
In contrast, data from the AIDS Epidemiology Group, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin in New Zealand published on the New Zealand Ministry of Health website, indicate that "151 people were diagnosed with HIV through antibody testing in 2009".
This figure is down from an all-time high of 183 in 2008, but the group claims that "it is too soon to determine if there is a definite downward trend in diagnosis".
The data also indicate that men who have sex with men (MSM) are the most affected group, that the number of new cases among MSM was similar to what obtained in 2006, 2007 and that new cases continue to occur among MSM.