Pubdate: Fri, 03 Feb 2012
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2012 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact: 
http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Emma Graney

MORE WORK NEEDED TO FIGHT HIV IN SASK: EXPERT

REGINA -- There needs to be more done to help lower the HIV rates in
Saskatchewan, according to Ann Livingstone, one of the founders of the
Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users.

Livingstone was in Regina on Thursday to talk to University of Regina
students about the HIV rate and how it relates to issues such as
homelessness and intravenous drug use.

"It is one of the hazards in the daily life of the drug user," she
said.

"The thing we know about epidemics is that once you get a population
with a certain level of HIV, it is extremely difficult to bring those
numbers down, because you need to have no mistakes. This is urgent for
sure."

Livingstone says the climbing rate of HIV in this province is tied to
the chronic shortage of affordable housing, particularly in Regina.

"You can't stop an HIV epidemic when there's a housing shortage, you
just can't," she said.

When it comes to the number of HIV diagnoses in Saskatchewan, the
figures are startling.

Between 2002 and 2009, the province experienced a huge spike in new
cases, climbing from 2.5 per cent per 100,000 people up to 19.3 per
cent - close to 12 points above the Canadian national average.

In 2010, that figure dropped by 14 per cent in Saskatchewan, with the
majority of cases (44 per cent) reported in the Saskatoon Health
Region.

Regina-Qu'Appelle was next at 22 per cent, followed by P.A.-Parkland
at 14 per cent.

Despite the dip in numbers of new cases, the gap between aboriginals
and non-aboriginals diagnosed HIV positive remains alarmingly high.

In 2010, the proportion of newly diagnosed patients who are
aboriginals stood at 73 per cent, in contrast with the 23 per cent
reporting with non-aboriginal ethnicity.

In an effort to curtail those numbers, in 2011 the province
implemented a provincial HIV strategy.

The health ministry's chief medical health officer, Dr. Moira
McKinnon, says although there had been work on curbing HIV infections,
it was the first time there was such a co-ordinated, proactive
approach in Saskatchewan.

Costing $12 million over three years, the plan takes a case management
approach to give people support in getting medical treatment.

"We found that a great number of people who had HIV were too
frightened ... of the disease and the impact on their families to get
help," McKinnon said.

"As Ann Livingstone suggests, it's really important to support people
and treat them as normal human beings, rather than dropouts of
society."

Partners in the program - including health authorities, social
agencies and First Nations groups - meet each week via teleconference
to discuss strategy.

"We've already had huge success in taking services into communities
and also in providing outreach into urban areas," she said.

"A lot of work has been done, but there's always more to be done."

The strategy also includes education, harm reduction approaches such
as needle exchanges, and, in Prince Albert, a trial funded housing
program recognizing the importance of issues like homelessness.

"The idea is to reach out, give positive people a voice, give them
hope and reduce discrimination ... and I think we've really done work
in those areas," McKinnon said.
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