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AIDS
Epidemic Continues
To Grow In Canada
The HIV-AIDS epidemic continues to rage
on in Canada with a record 56,000 people now infected despite
two decades of prevention efforts and hundreds of million of dollars
spent battling the scourge.
The sobering statistic marks a 12 per
cent jump in cases since 1999, says Health Canada's sixth annual
report on HIV-AIDS which was released Monday to coincide with
World AIDS Day.
Gay men remain the hardest hit, accounting
for 40 per cent of new human immunodeficiency virus infections
at the end of 2002.
Aboriginals, injection drug users, prisoners
and people from countries where AIDS is prevalent are among the
other groups most affected.
The federal government also marked AIDS
day by announcing $100 million over five years to fight the disease
in Africa, where it kills millions.
Worldwide, more than 42 million people
are living with HIV or AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa has been hardest
hit, with one in every 13 people between the ages of 15 and 49
HIV-positive.
Health Minister Anne McLellan said Canada
is playing an important role in the AIDS battle.
"This report, however, makes it clear
that we still have work ahead of us and that we must continue
to get the message out that HIV-AIDS is fatal and remains a significant
threat to the health of Canadians," she said.
Aboriginals were quick to seize on that
point, noting another native becomes infected with HIV every day.
The infection rate among aboriginals
grew by a startling 26.5 per cent in the first six months of 2002
- more than six times faster than the rate among non-aboriginals,
said Garry Carbonnell, president of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS
Network.
Phil Fontaine, national chief of the
Assembly of First Nations, said Ottawa isn't spending nearly enough
to both fight the disease and the root causes that lead to HIV
infection, including lack of education and poverty among aboriginal
populations.
"It's a big challenge . . . and the government
has to meet this challenge."
Fontaine endorsed a recent call by MPs
for more spending to deal with HIV and AIDs.
Earlier this year, the House of Commons
health committee recommended that annual funding for the federal
HIV-AIDS strategy be more than doubled to $100 million from the
current $42.2 million.
The strategy has several goals, including
preventing the spread of infection, finding a cure, finding vaccines,
drugs and therapies, and ensuring effective care, treatment and
support for those living with HIV and AIDS.
Among the other findings in Monday's
annual report:
- The number of women testing positive
for HIV continues to rise.
- The proportion of new infections among
injection drug users declined slightly.
- A large number of people are unaware
they are infected with HIV.
- Stigma and discrimination associated
with HIV and AIDS are still pervasive. Nearly a third of respondents
to a survey said they would be uncomfortable working in an office
with a person with HIV, and 40 per cent said they would be uncomfortable
if their child was attending a school where one of the students
had HIV or AIDS.
The new Africa funding announced Monday,
which was accounted for in the last federal budget, will go toward
African-led strategies and programs for the care, treatment, support
and prevention of HIV and AIDS.
Initial contributions of up to $35 million
will go to Tanzania and Mozambique, where the rates of infection
are among the highest in the world.
The new funding, through the Canadian
International Development Agency, brings Canada's international
anti-AIDS commitment to $270 million by 2005.
Canada is also working to help developing
countries get access to affordable drugs to deal with public health
problems including HIV and AIDS.
Reference
Source 114
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