The New Zealand AIDS Foundation has launched a formal campaign encouraging HIV testing amidst the Covid-19 crisis.
It comes after experts told 1 NEWS the lockdown was a chance to wipe out HIV transmission from New Zealand altogether.
Now NZAF is encouraging people to get tested for HIV and other STIs before heading back into the post-lockdown world.
"If we all get tested before we get back to connecting with our wider sexual networks, we have the chance to truly end HIV transmission in Aotearoa," the group says.
It's estimated around 700 people in New Zealand live with HIV but aren't diagnosed.
Recent advances in treatment, such as PrEP, can reduce the transmission rate of HIV down to zero.
If everyone with HIV is diagnosed and treated, it could prevent the virus from spreading to new people.
"There is no shame in learning you are living with HIV, it is so much more dangerous when you don’t know," NZAF says.
"It’s important to know that if you do get a positive result you will be connected to treatment within days of finding out and there are services, peers and communities who are here, ready and waiting to support you."
Being able to "break the chain" will only work if everyone gets on board, NZAF says.
"It’s so essential that we end this cycle that has disproportionately affected our communities since the beginning of the HIV epidemic. This is our chance to take the power back from years of health inequities, discrimination, criminalisation and isolation that has left our communities most at risk of HIV even today.
"We’ve been saying it for years, but now it’s more important than ever - together we can end HIV transmissions in Aotearoa."
The Prime Minister made a funding announcement at today’s Big Day Out.
Earlier this year, before Covid-19 hit New Zealand, the Government pledged an additional $300,000 in funding for AIDS and STI prevention research.
People can get tested by contacting their local GP or checking in with a nearby sexual health clinic.
Home testing is also available through Ending HIV .
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