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Burnett Foundation Aotearoa (formerly the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF)) is
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
’s national
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
prevention and healthcare organisation. Its funding is derived from grants, donations and the Ministry of Health. Burnett Foundation Aotearoa has a vision of ‘an Aotearoa with zero new HIV transmissions, where people living with HIV thrive, and rainbow and takatāpui communities enjoy great mental and sexual health’ and aims to achieve this by preventing the transmission of HIV and supporting people affected by HIV and AIDS.


History

Founded in 1985, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation has grown from the response of New Zealand’s
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
communities to the impending HIV
epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
. It grew from the national AIDS Support Network established in 1984 by Bruce Burnett, Bill Logan and Phil Parkinson. From its earliest days as a
grassroots movement A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
, the NZAF provides a New Zealand response to HIV, bringing history, passion, knowledge, and diversity to fight the emerging trends of the HIV epidemic. During 2009, the NZAF introduced the NZAF HIV Prevention Plan 2009-2014; a significant review and redesign of the population health programme. The plan includes a clear focus on building a
condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condo ...
culture in New Zealand. Get it On! is the new
social marketing Social marketing is a marketing approach which focuses on influencing behavior with the primary goal of achieving the "common good". It utilizes the elements of commercial marketing and applies them to social concepts. However, to see social ...
programme developed and supported by the NZAF that is committed to doing that. An important part of this programme is the largest gay community event in New Zealand, the Big Gay Out. In June 2022 NZAF rebranded to Burnett Foundation Aotearoa, in part to honour Bruce Burnett, one of the first people living with AIDS in New Zealand, but also to reflect the evolving work that the organisation does.


Programmes

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa provides health and support services to people with HIV to maximise their health and their ability to maintain
safe sex Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or contraceptive devices (such as condoms) to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV. "Safe sex" is also sometimes referred to as safer ...
ual practice, and HIV prevention programmes targeted at the communities most at risk, including HIV and syphilis rapid testing and sexual health clinics. Burnett Foundation Aotearoa also undertakes research, strategic analysis and policy advice. The national office of Burnett Foundation Aotearoa is in Auckland, and there are regional centres in
Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
and
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
. They employs more than 40 staff and has well over 100 regular volunteers. There are also trained professional contractors providing HIV and
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
rapid testing and counselling in many other regions across New Zealand. Outside of New Zealand, Burnett Foundation Aotearoa manages an international development programme working with partners in the Pacific committed to the rights and health of Pacific men who have sex with men and
transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
people.


Health Promotion

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa
Get it on!
' uses the Big Gay Out festival as an avenue to promote safe sex and develop condom culture in New Zealand. A survey administered during the 2012 Big Gay Out festival determined that those who stayed longer were more knowledgeable and positive toward condom culture and felt that the ''Get it on!'' message was an empowering one. Survey participants also said the program "helped to educate men about safe sex" and "helped them feel good about having safe sex." In 2014, Get It On! was dropped and LYC was adopted as the main message. Love Your Condom (LYC) is New Zealand Aids Foundation’s social marketing programme for gay and bisexual men. It addresses a complex mix of attitudinal, behavioural and social change amongst a community that can be difficult to define and reach. The LYC Social Marketing team talks about the programme’s history, the challenges they face and what keeps them loving what they do. In 2017, New Zealand Aids Foundation dropped Love Your Condom and created a new campaign called Ending HIV. It has a goal of ending new HIV transmission in New Zealand by 2025. The campaign highlight key points including: * Playing safe. Which means safe sex with the use of condoms and taking
PrEP PowerPC Reference Platform (PReP) was a standard system architecture for PowerPC-based computer systems (as well as a reference implementation) developed at the same time as the PowerPC processor architecture. Published by IBM in 1994, it allow ...
. * Testing Often. Most HIV transmissions happen with people who don't know they have HIV and have unprotected sex. Testing often will diagnose people with HIV and get them onto treatment which will help stop spreading HIV. * Treat Early. Treating early not only protects personal health, but it also reduces the chance of transmitting HIV to another person. * Ending HIV Stigma. Stigma refers to prejudice and discrimination towards people living with HIV, their friends, partners and whānau. Even though HIV stigma was at its peak during the early days of the AIDS epidemic, many people living with HIV still experience prejudice on a daily basis.


References


External links


Burnett Foundation Aotearoa

Ministry of Health
{{LGBT in New Zealand HIV/AIDS in New Zealand Organizations established in 1985 Foundations based in New Zealand Medical and health foundations Medical and health organisations based in New Zealand 1985 establishments in New Zealand Mental health organisations in New Zealand LGBTQ organisations based in New Zealand