Policy, Science & Research

Policy and Advocacy 

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa protect and promote the health and rights of all people living with HIV by developing policy, influencing decisionmakers, and forming strategic partnerships to advance our work in ending new HIV transmissions. We work with legislators, researchers, policymakers, and service providers to help them to understand and address the needs of our communities. 

We have been advocating for LGBTI communities and for people living with HIV from the very beginning of the epidemic, and the organisation’s inception in 1985. Our focus is on responding to key issues in HIV policy and advocacy as and when they come up, while mapping out future challenges and opportunities. 

Our work focusses on a broad range of issues as they impact on both the prevention of HIV and other STIs, as well as care and support for people living with HIV, including: 

• Making combination HIV prevention (condoms, lube, PrEP and U=U) available to those who need it in our communities in our efforts to end new HIV transmissions. 
• Advocating for research on combination HIV prevention to measure current knowledge, use, intention to use, and other behavioural data. 
• Ensuring access to HIV education, testing and treatment, and securing access to a wider variety of HIV testing services. Collaborating with ASHM and DHB sexual health clinicians to develop training and resources to improve PrEP knowledge among GPs. 
• Advocating for and shaping national strategy, policy and guidance on preventing HIV transmission, and ensuring goals and targets are met in local, national, regional and international strategies. 
• Monitoring and influencing immigration and insurance policy and challenging unfair policy decisions which could have a negative impact on the health of people living with HIV, and ensuring all people living with HIV (no matter their visa status) know that they are entitled to treatment within New Zealand. 
• Providing leadership in health workforce development and research-based policy development to ensure the needs of our communities are met. 
• Influencing legal and policy developments, police and prosecutor practice and media narrative on the criminalisation of HIV transmission and the treatment of PLHIV. 

If you have any questions about our policy and advocacy work, would like to feed into our work or have policy issues which you think should be brought to our attention, please contact our Policy and Science Team at [email protected] 

Position Statements 

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa prepares a range of resources as part of our HIV and public health policy work to inform the work that we do. These resources include policy position statements, background briefings, and issues papers. 

New Zealand HIV and STI Research Network 

Burnett Foundation Aotearoa are part of a network of research occurring across the country. For more information about HIV-related research occurring in Aotearoa New Zealand follow the links below: 

Gay Men’s Sexual Health (GMSH) Research Group 
AIDS Epidemiology Group 
New Zealand Sexual Health Society 
Massey University and SHORE and Whariki Research Centre 
Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) 

Briefing to the Incoming Parliament 2023-2026 

In 2023, we developed a Briefing to the Incoming Parliament. The briefing identifies three priorities to help us achieve our goal of being the first nation in the world to eliminate both local HIV transmissions and deaths due to AIDS-related causes, and ensure people living with HIV have healthy lives free from stigma and discrimination.

We have also highlighted immediate actions that can happen now to eliminate disparities in access to both prevention and treatment, as well as support for people living with HIV.

Read the briefing here. 

Submission 

We regularly advocate on issues relating to HIV or issues pertinent to our communities through submissions to local councils, government departments, PHARMAC, and MedSafe to name a few. The issues we submit on relate to HIV and STI prevention, support for people living with HIV, and the health and wellbeing of communities affected by HIV. In recent years we have seen the removal of the CD4 threshold for treatment access for people living with HIV, applying for PrEP to be publicly funded by PHARMAC, and the funding of a wider range of condoms. 

Here are some of our recent submissions: 

• Submission on the Therapeutic Products Bill 
• Feedback to PHARMAC on the proposed changes to funding of emtricitabine with tenofovir disoproxil for preexposure prophylaxis of HIV (PrEP) and antiretrovirals for post-exposure prophylaxis of HIV (PEP) 
• Feedback to PHARMAC on the funding of a wider range of funded condoms, and the decision to not have a funded lubricant 
• Feedback to PHARMAC on widening eligibility for PEP 
• Feedback to PHARMAC on the widening of PrEP prescriber eligibility, and proposal of further changes
• Application to PHARMAC to fund TAF 

• Feedback to PHARMAC on the proposed competing of the INSTI market for the treatment of HIV 
• Advice to Medsafe Medicines Classification Committee's 63rd meeting on the regulation of Amyl Nitrates (poppers) 
• Feedback to Medsafe Medicines Classification Committee on the decision to regulate Amyl Nitrates (poppers) 
• Submission to Ministry of Health/MBIE Working Group on suggested changes to immigration health requirements for people living with HIV 

Sign Up for Our Research Update 

We keep track of local and international research and policy developments. If you are professionally involved or have interest in HIV or sexual health research, current practice or policy, sign up here to start receiving e-mails with some of the highlights.