Pubdate: Wed, 19 Aug 2009
Source: Prince Albert Daily Herald (CN SN)
Copyright: 2009 Prince Albert Daily Herald
Contact:  http://www.paherald.sk.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1918
Author: Angela Hill

HIV: A GROWING CONCERN IN SASKATCHEWAN

Saskatchewan's HIV rates are causing concern throughout the medical 
community, bringing forward comparisons with developing nations.

"Over the past five years you have seen the rates stabilize in 
sub-Saharan Africa ... it has done the killing and now it has 
stabilized. That was the bubble bursting," said Dr. Khami Chokani, 
medical health officer of the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region, 
who's worked in countries across southern Africa.

"If you think decimating the African population was bad ... HIV in 
this province will kill 15 to 30 per cent (of the aboriginal 
population). Not all at one time, but over a five-to10-year period."

In Saskatchewan, there were 174 cases of HIV in 2008, a three-fold 
increase from 2004, according to data released by the Ministry of Health.

Aboriginal people are the largest group affected, and intravenous 
drug users sharing needles is the main way HIV is transmitted in this province.

Young aboriginal women are of increasing concern.

"In the publichealth sector, this is having a considerable effect, as 
these increases are appearing primarily in the young females, 
pregnant women and newborn babies," Chokani said.

Dr. Moira McKinnon, Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, said 
the current situation is becoming "urgent" and that it is "escalating."

" There are babies being born with HIV and that's completely 
avoidable. We know that young girls are getting infected and they are 
getting sick very quickly, and all of this is avoidable, if we get 
onto it," she said. Stephen Lewis, a professor in global health at 
McMaster University, can't understand how babies are born with HIV in 
North America.

"Some of the double standards are terribly worrisome ... There is no 
excuse whatsoever in Canada for having a double standard ( between) 
major hospitals or pediatric centres in the south and what happens in 
aboriginal communities in the North," he said during a phone 
interview with the Herald from his office in Toronto.

"It's just inexcusable, it's indefensible, it's unconscionable, that 
aboriginal babies should be born HIV positive, when it's not 
necessary. " During Lewis's tenure as the UN Secretary-General's 
Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, he saw that treatment for an 
HIV-positive woman who is carrying a child or continuing care for a 
baby could reduce mother-to-child transmission by almost 99 per cent.

Health officials here are also concerned about accessibility to health care.

There are many people in the First Nations community who distrust the 
health system, said Kelly Patrick, interim director of health for 
Metis Nation-Saskatchewan.

"They don't feel compelled to go to the reserve clinic because that's 
a community clinic and once they walk into the reserve clinic and you 
ask to be tested ... the cat is out of the bag," she said.

Provincial, federal and aboriginal jurisdictional boundaries make it 
difficult for people with HIV to access the care they need, according 
to health officials. "What's missing is, a lot of the connections 
between authorities, information flow, the understanding of what's 
driving this epidemic and resources to deal with it, because the 
caseload is becoming unmanageable," said McKinnon, who heads the 
provincial HIV strategy.

Stigma and discrimination associated with HIV needs to be addressed 
to reverse misinformation and increase understanding of the virus, said Lewis.

"The stigma that is associated with AIDS is entrenched in many of the 
aboriginal communities, making it very difficult for them to deal 
with the issue," he said.

"Things are pretty grim in a number of communities, whether it is the 
downtown Vancouver's eastside or whether it's northern Saskatchewan 
communities."

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HIV and aids

HIV is short for human immunodeficiency virus, a virus that causes AIDS.

AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and is caused by HIV.

Someone with HIV needs to have two infections, such as tuberculosis, 
related to their lowered immune system before they are considered to have AIDS.

17 per 100,000 people are HIV positive in Saskatchewan

10 per 100,000 people is the national average

HIV transmission can increase exponentially if it isn't addressed quickly

Source: Provincial health data
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart