New Zealand Risks AIDS Explosion, Study Warns

New Zealand is at risk of an AIDS explosion as HIV moves further into the heterosexual population, doctors warned in a study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal on Friday. The study said that immigrants from Africa represent a significant number of those who are ill, with Africans representing 13 percent of the total cases of HIV. African women accounted for nearly one-third of infected women. The study estimated between 664 and 801 people living in New Zealand were diagnosed HIV-positive in September 2000. Although New Zealand's infection rate is low compared with other countries, the increasing proportion of women with HIV and the rate of heterosexual transmission pose significant dangers, the study said. Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said that medical screening of immigrants was being reviewed and changes could include compulsory screening for HIV. At present, immigrants are asked to declare whether they are HIV-infected; those declaring they are HIV-positive are generally rejected, Dalziel said.

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