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The MOH is similarly coy about suggestions - leaked to GayNZ.com from a usually reliable source - that the report, by Dr David Miller, is critical of the Ministry's role in funding and oversight of prevention programmes and support services for HIV positive people in recent years.
In February the Ministry, which commissioned the report, advised that Miller's findings would be released in April. In mid-April it indicated late April and clarified that the report would not contain any recommendations for action.
By May 7th the Ministry was suggesting a late June release date and acknowledged that it had now accepted Miller's offer to include recommendations. Now a spokesperson for the MOH says the release has been delayed "because it is taking us longer than we expected to consider the report’s findings and recommendations."
The spokesperson refused to be drawn on whether the report contains are criticisms of the Ministry's role, other than to advise that "the report has provided insightful findings and recommendations which we will take into account in our investment in services for people living with HIV/AIDS. We recognise that there are aspects of policy and service delivery that can be further improved to fully address the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS, and we will be looking at ways to address these. "
The increasingly drawn out process appears to be somewhat in line with the Ministry's standard procedure for handling such reports. "Once the Ministry receives the final copy of any report it has commissioned it then begins the process of considering the report’s findings and recommendations, " says the spokesperson. "Once this is completed, key stakeholders are briefed about the report and given copies in advance of its public release."
Approximately 2,200 people are believed to be currently living with HIV in New Zealand, with over 70 percent of newly diagnosed infections occurring amongst gay and bi men.
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