Epidemic tied to shortage of housing

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

Livingstone was in Regina 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.

“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 to 19.3 per 100,000 people from 2.5 per 100,000 people — 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 Prince Albert Parkland at 14 per cent.

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

In 2010, the proportion of newly diagnosed patients who are aboriginals was 73 per cent, compared to 23 per cent non-aboriginal. Ethnicity was not reported by the remaining patients.

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 coordinated 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 such as 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.