Mr Sandor Milne, the foundation director, said a person infected with hepatitis A would be a social risk for only a few days or weeks but someone with hepatitis B might be infectious for 10 to 20 years.
He went on to say that we should "not forget that hepatitis B kills perhaps 100 to 150 carriers every year most of them men, most of them poor. In a perfect world, where money was no object, the attempts of Auckland health workers to control the transmisson of hepatitis A in gay sex venues might be applauded."
North Health responded by saying that the hepatitis A programme for gay men was a single project to meet an acute problem. The authority also bought routine vaccinations for hepatitis B and screening for pregnant women who were carrieris of the disease.
