Health Professionals

Links for Health Professionals

Counting Ourselves survey about the health and wellbeing of trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Guidelines for Gender Affirming Healthcare for Gender Diverse and Transgender Children, Young People and Adults in Aotearoa New Zealand Guidelines to support the development of health services around the country, and provide helpful guidance to all health professionals involved in the care of transgender people.

Medical Sexual Assault Clinicians Aotearoa MEDSAC is the acknowledged New Zealand expert body in sexual assault/abuse medicine. The MEDSAC website provides information about specialist sexual assault medical examinations and local specialist sexual assault medical service contact details. 

Ministry of Health National Syphilis Action Plan The Ministry has developed a national syphilis action plan to guide a systematic and coordinated health sector response to stop the increase in syphilis.

New Zealand Sexual Health Society NZSHS Incorporated is a group of professionals working or interested in the field of Sexual Health. Membership is multidisciplinary and includes doctors, nurses, counsellors, educators, health promoters and others in Public Health working in the field of sexually transmissible infections, including HIV/AIDS, and sexual and reproductive health.

Rape Prevention Education Rape Prevention Education (RPE) works in the greater Auckland area and nationally to prevent sexual violence through the delivery of education and health promotion/prevention activities. Where appropriate, RPE works with Tangata Whenua and other allied professionals in partnership to develop community services, education programmes, health promotion, research and advocacy.

Supporting Aotearoa's Rainbow People: A Practical Guide for Mental Health Professionals Created by Gloria Fraser in partnership with RainbowYOUTH, Gender Minorities Aotearoa and InsideOUT, this guide is for anyone who provides mental health support in Aotearoa.

SYHPANZ The Society of Youth Health Professionals Aotearoa New Zealand (was established to benefit the community as a whole by improving the healthy development and wellbeing of New Zealand’s young people.

Syphilis in New Zealand A podcast produced by the Goodfellow Unit. Dr Massimo Giola talks about the re-emergence of syphilis in New Zealand.

Syphilis in pregnant women and congenital syphilis A podcast produced by the Goodfellow Unit. Dr Massimo Giola talks about congenital syphilis and screening during pregnancy.

Sexually Transmitted Infections - Best Practice Guidelines

The Ministry of Health supports the use of these clinical guidelines, developed by clinical experts and professional associations to guide clinical care. Every effort has been taken to ensure that the information in these resources is correct at the time of publishing.

STIEF - Genital Herpes & HPV Management Guidelines:

The following STIEF guidelines are available as PDF downloads.

Herpes

  Genital Herpes - Summary of Guidelines - 2017
  Guidelines for the Management of Genital Herpes in New Zealand - 12th Edition 2017  

HPV

  Genital, Anal and Throat HPV Infection - Key Information Summary - 2017
  Guidelines for the Management of Genital, Anal and Throat HPV Infection in New Zealand - 9th Edition 2017

NZSHS - STI Guidelines for use in primary care:

The New Zealand Sexual Health Society (NZSHS) STI guidelines for use in primary care settings were revised in 2021 and are available at https://www.sti.guidelines.org.nz. These have been developed collaboratively by clinical experts and professional associations to guide clinical care. Every effort has been taken to ensure that the information in these resources is correct at the time of publishing.

View the following guidelines here.

Infections

• Bacterial Vaginosis
• Chlamydia 
• Candidiasis
• Ectoparasites
• Genital warts
• Gonorrhoea 
• Hepatitis A, B & C
• Herpes
• HIV
• Mycoplasma genitalium
• Syphilis
• Trichomoniasis

Syndromes

• Anorectal syndromes
• Epididymo-orchitis 
• Genital skin lesions
• Genital ulcers
• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) 
• Urethritis 
• Vaginal discharge 

Populations & Situations

• Correctional facilities
• Men who have sex with men
• People who are not eligible for publicly funded healthcare
• People who use drugs
• Refugees and asylum seekers
• STI prevention
• Transgender and non-binary people
• Women who have sex with women
• Young people

NZSHS – Syphilis in Pregnancy Guideline

The NZSHS Syphilis in Pregnancy Guideline was published in September 2020 and is available at https://www.nzshs.org/guidelines. 

Other Useful Resources

The following resources are available at https://www.nzshs.org/guidelines.

Useful Links

• Express STI Testing Questionnaire
• The Gender Unicorn
• How to Take a Vaginal Swab
• How to Take an Anorectal Swab
• STI Notification Flowchart (Public Health) - Summary