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Saturday 11 February 2012


Volunteers important in fight against HIV

Posted in: New Zealand Daily News
By GayNZ.com Daily News staff - 22nd March 2010

The importance of volunteer workers to help fight the re-emergent HIV epidemic amongst gay and bi men was a strong theme of yesterday's NZ AIDS Foundation garden party marking 25 years of HIV in New Zealand.

Tony__Warren_and_Kate250wide.jpg
Early NZAF stalwarts Tony Hughes, Warren Lindberg & Kate Leslie
Around 120 people with a connection to the fight against HIV gathered at the Carrington, Auckland, function late yesterday afternoon. They included past NZAF Trust Board members, employees and volunteers.

Kate Leslie, the first NZAF chair, spoke of her rewarding relationship with Bruce Burnett, the openly HIV positive gay man who did much to spearhead the initial reaction to the spread of HIV, a then-untreatable infection leading to death within four years. An early volunteer worker, Christina Geoffries, spoke of her tortuous induction into the NZAF and the stresses of having HIV Hotline calls diverted to her home phone line.

Josh Wicks, another volunteer, spoke of his role as an ambassador for safe sex and the effect the epidemic has had on friends and family. New NZAF Chair Alaistair Cameron reiterated the on-going need for volunteers to support the work of NZAF staff.

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