PRELIMINARY DATA

Some of the early results include:

30 participants self-reported that they previously had tested HIV-positive. The majority of them (87 per cent) reported being under the care of a physician for their HIV infection.

53 per cent of participants reported being removed from their family during childhood (by child welfare agencies, church or government officials). Almost one-third of participants had lived in a residential or boarding school while under the age of 18, and 43 per cent reported being placed in foster care at some time in their lives.

Of the participants who injected drugs during the six months prior to the survey, 84 per cent accessed harm reduction and needle exchange services in the 12 months prior to the survey.

Of the 322 participants who injected in the six months prior to the survey, almost one in 10 reported injecting with used needles and 13 per cent reported that the needles or syringes they used were subsequently used again by someone else.

70 per cent had been tested for HIV during their lifetime. Of those, 68 per cent had been tested during the 12 months prior to the survey.

The 54 individuals who were found to be HIV-positive using the survey samples also tested positive for hepatitis C antibodies, meaning that they had been infected with the hepatitis C virus at some point in their lives.

82 per cent of respondents were sexually active, reporting having had sex within 12 months prior to the survey.