Canadian Face of HIV Changing
November 2006
Denise Becker remembers being told that she would eventually come to know someone infected with HIV. Trying to picture that in her mind, who that person could be, she hadn’t the faintest idea that it was, in fact, her. The news came all too devastatingly. Months after Ms. Becker gave birth to her daughter in 1993, the child became extremely ill. Doctors discovered baby Katie had AIDS, and she died at home at the age of nine months. Around the same time, Ms. Becker and her husband were tested and she was found to be HIV+. She later learned she had been infected four years earlier while between marriages. "I was aware that it was out there," the 47 year old Kelowna resident said, "but never in a million years did I think I would get it" But Ms. Becker’s story may not be all that uncommon.
A report released yesterday by the Public Health Agency of Canada estimates that close to 15,000 Canadians have HIV/AIDS but don’t know it. That’s about a quarter of the estimated 58,000 people living with the virus at the end of last year. "This happened to me and it could happen to anybody," Ms. Becker said. "It would be easier for me to live my life if people knew they could get it too." Ms. Becker who didn’t have sex until her first marriage, who has been married to her current husband for 16 years and who has never injected drugs may not fit the typical profile of someone living with HIV in Canada. But the numbers from PHAC show that this may soon change, with more heterosexual women being diagnosed with HIV & AIDS than in the past. Women now make up 20% of all infections, up from 14% in 2002, the last time estimates of the prevalence of HIV & AIDS were made in Canada. Women were also estimated to account for 27% of new infections last year, up from 24% in 2002. Louise Binder, Chair of the Canadian Treatment Action Council and who herself is HIV+, says this rise in infections among women can be attributed to social determinants of health, including a lack of negotiating power when it comes to sex. "We don’t have good female-initiated prevention methods. We have a female condom but it’s very expensive and not very available, there’s no microbicide," which could kill the virus in semen, Ms. Binder said.
But the groups most at risk of contracting HIV in Canada continue to be men who have sex with men (51% of those infected) and people who inject drugs (17% of those infected). Overall, an estimated 2300 to 4500 new HIV infections occurred last year, compared with between 2100 and 4000 in 2002.
Aboriginal people are still over represented in the epidemic and are almost three times more likely to be infected by HIV than other Canadians, "highlighting the need for specific measures to address the unique aspects of certain groups," said Frank Plummer, Director General of the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention & Control.
Other vulnerable groups include prisoners, at-risk youth, sex trade workers and people from countries where HIV is endemic. "I wouldn’t interpret this data to say the programs (to combat the disease) are not working, but certainly more needs to be done," Dr. Plummer said. "The number of Canadians living with HIV infection will likely continue to increase in years to come as new infection rates continue and survival rates improve." Part of the reason for the continued increase in prevalence rates (or total number of people with the disease) can be attributed to triple-drug therapy, which is allowing people with HIV to live longer, fuller lives. Kim Thomas, Acting Director of the Canadian AIDS Society, said "this shift in demographics should play a big role in how the Government addresses the AIDS issue in Canada". "AIDS has become a disease that people are living with longer, so we’re seeing more of an impact where people are moving into poverty because of the effect HIV/AIDS has had on their lives. They’re unable to maintain a regular work situation."
Source: Public Health Agency Of Canada By Unnati Gandhi, The Toronto Globe & Mail 1 August 2006