HIV-awareness campaign slated as numbers rise
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/04/2011 (5687 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
HIV infection rates are falling globally, but that’s not the case in Manitoba or across Canada.
The number of new cases in Manitoba rose to 102 in 2010, compared with 99 in 2009, according to the 2010 Manitoba HIV Program report released late Thursday. In 2007, there were 66 new cases of HIV in the province.
Local health officials are troubled by the rising trend in Manitoba. It comes as the United Nations reported last month that new infection rates worldwide are falling.
“It’s still something to be concerned about. It’s not something that we have left behind in our past,” said Sané Dubé, a spokeswoman for Winnipeg’s Nine Circles Community Health Centre, which specializes in HIV prevention and care.
The new numbers have prompted the health centre to launch a new public-awareness campaign, beginning Monday, to draw attention to the persistent problem.
The campaign will feature ads on radio, billboards and city buses. Social-media sites such as Facebook and Twitter will also be used to get the message out.
Dubé said the campaign’s goal is to spread awareness about HIV and urge people to get tested. More than 65,000 Canadians live with HIV.
The 2010 Manitoba HIV study also shows how HIV in Manitoba is changing. A decade ago, the province’s gay community was the hardest hit. In 2010, 63 per cent of newly diagnosed Manitobans contracted HIV through heterosexual sex.
A disproportionate number of new cases of HIV in Manitoba — 38 per cent — involved aboriginal people.
Although aboriginal people represent only 3.8 per cent of the Canadian population, they account for eight per cent of Canadians living with HIV.
The Public Health Agency of Canada estimates that in 2008, the overall new infection rate among aboriginal people was about 3.6 times higher than among non-aboriginal people. In Saskatchewan, 80 per cent of new HIV patients in 2009 were of aboriginal ancestry.
Many people assume HIV is an illness primarily affecting youth, but the study found nearly 40 per cent of new cases involved individuals above 40 years old.
A 2005 study by the Public Health Agency of Canada revealed that one in three HIV-positive Canadians do not know they are living with HIV.
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca
2010 HIV trends
Only 25% of new patients were female, compared with 45% in 2009.
54% of the male cases were younger than 40 and 60% of females were under that age.
38% of new patients in 2010 were of aboriginal descent, continuing a trend of over-representation by native people. In 2009, 43 per cent of new cases involved aboriginal people.
— Source: 2010 Manitoba HIV Program