Saskatchewan’s HIV population remains the highest in the country.
The latest provincial health data reveals a record 237 diagnoses in 2021, a jump of nearly 30 percent from 184 cases recorded in 2020, bringing transmission rates to more than double the national average.
“It’s unfortunate, and even though we’re talking about percentages, they’re real individuals,” said Dr. Johnmark Opondo, a medical officer on the Saskatchewan Provincial HIV Leadership Team.
According to the Ministry of Health, sexual contact accounted for 68% of HIV cases (which is higher than usual in the province) and injection drug use accounted for 50%. These risk factors are not mutually exclusive.
However, Opondo maintains that sharing needles is a major factor.
“Sexual encounters are very risky if you are not using protection and you are not with your stable and regular partner, but injecting drug use, if you are not practicing safe use of needles, even a single episode can be enough to transmit HIV, ”he said.
Safe Consumption Sites Key to Containing HIV: Doctor
Opondo says harm reduction services, such as safe drug use sites, are among the key preventative elements that can help contain the province’s HIV numbers.
Kayla DeMong, executive director of Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) in Saskatoon, agrees.
She calls last year’s HIV numbers “heartbreaking,” noting that they talk about the need for more facilities like PHR in Saskatchewan and why provincial funding is needed to run them.
“With every HIV transmission we can prevent on our site, we know we’re saving huge dollars in the healthcare system,” DeMong said.
The photo shows Saskatoon’s Prairie Harm Reduction, a safe place to eat. Executive Director Kayla DeMong says more facilities like this are needed. (Kendall Latimer / CBC)
For three years in a row, the Saskatchewan government has denied PHR funding in the midst of a balloon overdose crisis. To stay open, it relies solely on donations and sales of goods.
“The people we care for here are people who are affected by homelessness, have complicated health issues, complicated mental health issues, and don’t participate in many services in our community,” DeMong explained.
“The more investment we can have in this population, the better impact we will see in the reduction [HIV] transmission speeds “.
PHR does not offer drugs to people, but provides a space where they can use them under medical supervision. The site can also check for drugs to detect substances with cords and help people access sterile equipment and media.
“It’s a life-saving service,” Opondo said.
Education, tests among the best preventive
Although intravenous drug use is considered a major factor in Saskatchewan’s HIV numbers, Dr. Larissa Kiesman, a family physician and medical director at the Westside Community Clinic in Saskatoon, is a center for care. to HIV, he says people should not lose sight of other risk factors. .
He says last year’s high rate of sexual transmission shows that the virus is also spreading widely among non-drug users.
“Isolating this as a problem among people who inject drugs is not appropriate,” Kiesman said.
“We are seeing a lot of transmission in people who have never used drugs intravenously, and they are very, very surprised by this diagnosis.”
LISTENING | Sask. Infectious Disease Physician assesses increase in HIV record:
The Afternoon Edition – Sask8: 00Sask. The infectious disease doctor values the increase in the HIV record
In 2021, 237 cases of HIV were reported, an increase of 30% compared to 2020, which places the provincial rate more than double the national average. Dr. Alexander Wong, an infectious disease physician from the Saskatchewan Health Authority, joins host Garth Materie to tell us more.
Robin Hilton, the sexual health outreach coordinator for the Regina University Student Union, says the increase in HIV sex transmission may be related to the lack of up-to-date sex education in schools.
“If we have that ability from that base to have conversations about sexual health and feel comfortable [HIV] projections, then we’ll go with the right foot, “Hilton said.
“We know that with HIV, knowing your condition is the best possible way to prevent the spread of the infection.”
This is where the evidence comes in.
Throughout the pandemic, Saskatchewan has seen a dramatic decline in HIV testing. In 2021, 78,858 tests were performed, slightly more than the 71,681 in 2020, but still below the 93,832 in 2019.
Free HIV self-test kits are now available to the general public in Saskatchewan at 23 locations across the province. (Kirk Fraser / CBC)
In January, the Saskatchewan government made HIV self-test kits available to pharmacies and community organizations in the province, with the goal of helping with early diagnosis.
Kiesman says he hopes this will help the province regain pre-pandemic test levels.
However, he added, this would lead to an inevitable influx of cases, and the provincial government would have to put its nearly $ 6 million HIV strategy into action and allocate the right amount of resources to deal with it.
Through testing, early diagnosis and treatment, Kiesman believes there is a possibility that the province may one day be able to eradicate HIV.
“We know because of COVID that we can do this kind of work; we can identify problems and we can respond,” he said.
“We just have to be very proactive. This is a public health emergency, it’s a public health crisis.”