Canada: HIV Prevention Programs Failing; New Infections on the Increase

In 2001, British Columbia had a modest but alarming increase in new HIV infections among both the gay and heterosexual populations -- the first increase in six years -- AIDS activists said Wednesday. The rate of HIV infection in the province declined annually to 413 new infections in 2000 from 840 in 1994. But in 2001 that number increased to 440. A recent Health Canada report found a similar increase among Toronto's gay population last year. Montreal was the only city studied that did not see the same rise in new infections, although researchers are unsure if that means the city has really bucked the trend that is also seen in the United States, Australia and the Netherlands.

"Despite 20 years of working to stop the spread of HIV, we find that those efforts are falling considerably short," said Glen Hillson, chairperson of the BC Persons with AIDS Society. New drug treatments mean more people with AIDS are living longer. That means more of the AIDS funding in Canada goes to caring for those who are infected and less goes to prevention programs, said Hillson. In smaller communities, HIV/AIDS still carries a stigma. "Homophobia prevents prevention posters from being put in public places," said Rich Marchand, a researcher with the Community Based Research Center. Needle exchange programs are the biggest investment in prevention in British Columbia, Marchand said.

Women account for 25 percent of new HIV infections in 2000, Health Canada statistics show. "Yet in the heterosexual community, it's not even on the map," said Marchand. There are an estimated 15,000 Canadians infected with HIV who do not know it, according to Health Canada. Stephen James, a researcher for the group, said men who have sex with men account for 77.9 percent of cumulative AIDS cases among adult men in Canada and 71.3 percent of HIV-positive reports since testing began in 1985. "Although gay men continue to have the highest number of new infections, few prevention programs exist for gay men," Marchand said.

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