HIV treatment in First Nations communities in the global spotlight
OTTAWA — Canada will be in the global spotlight later this week in Durban, South Africa, as it gears up for the 21st International AIDS Conference — but the glare won’t be flattering.
The conference will hear that Canada’s indigenous populations are experiencing sky-high HIV numbers — and the province of Saskatchewan alone has an infection rate comparable to countries in the developing world.
Saskatchewan’s annual report for 2014, released late last year, found aboriginal people in the province continue to make up the majority of new cases.
Between 2008 and 2012, an average of 140 aboriginals in Saskatchewan were diagnosed with HIV each year. In 2014, the final number was 79 — 44 per cent lower than the 2012 average, but still 71 per cent of all new diagnoses.