Dear Ministry of Health,

I am doing research on the influence of legalization of prostitution, and trafficking of illegal immigrant prostitutes - on the incidence and prevalence of sexually transmitted disease (with particular interest in the pattern for HIV) in New Zealand.

1. When was prostitution legalised in New Zealand?
2. When were brothels legalised in New Zealand?
3. Do prostitutes have to be registered?
4. How many known prostitutes were registered annually in NZ since prostitution over the past 35 years?
5. Annually, how many of these prostitutes were known to be born overseas (and where were they born)?
6. Do brothels have to be registered?
7. How many known registered brothels per city are there in NZ, (and in what cities are they located?)
8. Are prostitutes required to have medical checks? If so, how often?
9. Are STDs legally required to be reported by doctors?
10. Are STDs legally required to be reported by labs?
11. If there has been a change in the reporting of STDs in NZ, since prostitution was legalised in NZ, when did that occur?
11. How many cases per year (per STD type) have been reported by doctors annually for the past 35 years?
12. How many cases per year (per STD type) have been reported by labs annually for the past 35 years?
13. How many new cases of HIV have been reported annually over the past 35 years?
14. How many people have died of HIV annually over the past 35 years
15. How much has been spent annually on HIV treatment and support annually over the past 35 years.
16. If these was a change in the keeping of these related statistics, could you please indicate the date, govt, and directive associated with the change.

New Zealand has a publicly funded health system.
It is materially relevant to the nation that the NZ govt track the rate of diseases that consume resources; and adjust public policies that may contribute to or reduce diseases.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

T Monk

Dear Ministry of Health,

The response to my queries re annual rates of sexually transmitted disease before and after prostitution became legalised in NZ has not been helpful.

It is in PDF format and consequently the links to the info don’t work.
It comes across as if the staff person looks for any possible other source (no matter how incomplete or irrelevant) to avoid looking up the data and supplying it, which defeats the purpose of OIA
Could I please have further investigation into these questions.

I already have the info from a couple of the references - and they do not cover the period in question.

It should be a matter of interest to the govt (and to the public) of NZ to have data to show whether rates of various sexually transmitted diseases have gone up or down since prostitution was legalised.

It astonishes me that the Ministry of Health does not have this data to hand, because sexually transmitted disease is reportable.

I am also amazed that the Ministry of Health allegedly has no data on the number of brothels in NZ.
Why is this the case?

Its not my intent to ask useless questions. New Zealand legalised prostitution. Prostitution is linked to sexually transmitted disease. What was the consequence?

Human trafficking for sex is a worldwide phenomenon. In some countries there is a very high rate of HIV.
Reportedly university students and youths are becoming prostitutes. I understand there is increasing demand for IVF because many young people are infertile. Is this related?

IMO the rate of sexually transmitted disease pre and post legalisation of prostitution in New Zealand is of significant social, health, and economic importance - and queries into it should be facilitated.

Yours faithfully,

T Monk