{"id":291267,"date":"2026-02-19T07:21:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/291267\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T07:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T07:21:10","slug":"momentum-for-change-on-hiv-criminalisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/291267\/","title":{"rendered":"Momentum For Change On HIV Criminalisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, 19 February 2026, 7:14 pm
Press Release: Burnett Foundation Aotearoa<\/a><\/p>\n

A study of people living with HIV has revealed that
\ndespite advances in HIV treatment, criminalisation continues
\nto create uncertainty and distress, with 60% of people
\nliving with HIV fearing legal consequences and many avoiding
\nrelationships altogether.<\/p>\n

The full study and its
\nfindings will be released at a public event on 27
\nFebruary at 3 pm at the Ellen Melville
\nCentre in Auckland, by Positive Women, Body
\nPositive, Toit\u016b te Ao and Burnett Foundation
\nAotearoa.<\/p>\n

The study surveying 247 people living with
\nHIV in New Zealand, highlights the urgent need for rules and
\npractice to align with modern HIV science. Over half of
\nparticipants reported anxiety about legal consequences,
\nparticularly around disclosing HIV or discussing sexual
\npractices with healthcare service providers.<\/p>\n

“This
\nshows that people living with HIV want to see HIV
\ntransmission managed by Public Health authorities, and not
\nthe Police. We have one of the highest rates of HIV
\ncriminalisation per capita globally, with at least 14
\nprosecutions since 1993,” says Liz Gibbs CEO of Burnett
\nFoundation Aotearoa.<\/p>\n

“The Government\u2019s decision to
\nsign the U=U Call to Action at Big Gay Out 2026 is a great
\nfirst step in bringing New Zealand into line with overseas
\nbest practices on how to manage HIV.”<\/p>\n

U = U stands for
\nUndetectable = Untransmittable (U=U). It means that a person
\nliving with HIV who is on effective treatment and maintains
\nan undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV to sexual
\npartner(s).<\/p>\n

“Currently people living with HIV may face
\nprosecution under the Crimes Act for HIV non-disclosure to
\ntheir sexual partners (unless they are using a condom), even
\nif they are on treatment with an undetectable viral load and
\ntherefore pose zero risk of transmission,” says
\nGibbs.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

\n\u00a9 Scoop Media<\/a>
\n
\n<\/p>\n

Using Scoop for work?<\/p>\n

Scoop is free for personal use, but you”ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.<\/p>\n

Join Pro Individual<\/a>
\nFind out more<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thursday, 19 February 2026, 7:14 pmPress Release: Burnett Foundation Aotearoa A study of people living with HIV has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[161357,158708,24634,134,40159,2830,161358,3523,111,24636,139,69,11112],"class_list":{"0":"post-291267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-burnett-foundation-aotearoa","9":"tag-community-ngo-sector","10":"tag-general-politics","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-health-policy","13":"tag-hiv","14":"tag-legal-issues","15":"tag-medical","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-newsworthy","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-scoop"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}