According to the reports of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) mentioned that in 2012, the agency together with other federal departments related to the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada published incidence of estimated prevalence and incidence of the pandemic during 2011. Numerical estimates showed that 71, 300 (from the range between 58, 600 to 84,000) people were living with HIV (including AIDS) in Canada during the year 2011. In a percentage estimate, 25% of the people living with HIV have no knowledge of their condition due to lack of testing (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2013). The cases recorded in the year 2011 represents 11 % (7, 300 people) increase in accord to the 2008 report (Challombie, 2013).
In relation to the cases submitted to the PHAC majority of the cases recorded were concentrated in a few provinces including; Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta. The provinces mentioned combined together to account to 93% of the cases recorded. In 2013, the PHA made the range of their reports even wider through the partnership with the Public Health Ontario, where PHAC considered data collected through the use of Laboratory Enhancement Program (LEP) into the National HIV data set recordings. Through the new reporting scheme, the PHAC was able to record cases in a more holistic and complete manner due to the exposure of category and race/ethnicity. With regards to the exposure benefit, the LEP produced an increase in recording on the overall proportion of cases that could be broken down into exposure category. In the year 2012, the breakdown of cases under the exposure category increased from 52.4% to 64.3% after the inclusion of the LEP statistics. In addition, the cases with regards to known race or ethnicity increased from 34. 8% to 62.2% report (Challombie, 2013).
The PHAC also mentioned structural drivers such as economic, political, social and environmental factors as contributors to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The structural drivers add to the risk factors that concern the contraction of the pandemic. In terms of socio-economic structure, for instance, drug addicts are at higher risk of contracting AIDS due to sharing needles during their sessions. Blood transmission is one of the factors that lead to the spread of HIV. Unprotected sex is also included, for instance, in prostitution dens that put both the prostitute and clients at higher risk of HIV due to the unsafe work environment (Challombie, 2013)..
Despite the efforts of many groups in Canada, there still exist gaps between prevention based on the structural drivers. The racial disparity, for instance, are seen generally affecting the health outcomes are occurring in HIV. Awareness and access to HIV testing and diagnosis is one of the main problem affected by a person’s socio-economic status. There is an estimated 26% of people living in Canada have no idea about their current status. Another gap is in term of the geographic location of the cases, majority of cases reported are focused in Ontario, this differences in cases recorded affects the prevention mechanism because it distributes the government focus in to different places and also the containing the pandemic is made even more difficult (Challombie, 2013)..
The demographic breakdowns of the reported cases of HIV in Canada based on the 2011 National HIV estimate includes 35, 490 gay men and other men who engaged in same sex intercourse (MSM). The number represents 50% of all the HIV cases living in Canada. The 35, 490 is further distributed into two causes namely men having sex with men (33,330) and men whose HIV status is caused by either sexual intercourse with the same sex or injection drug use (MSM-IDU). Moreover, another contributing percentage is the 20% or 14, 200 people who used injection drugs (IDU). The 33% is attributed to heterosexual sexual intercourse or 23,170 people. Other factors such as blood transfusion also reported casualty of HIV, these cases are not attributed to any sexual acts or drug use, HIV cases attributed to other factors comprise of 600 people or represents less than 1% of the total HIV population. In terms of sex, 16,600 cases are females (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2011).
A new report on 2012, in terms of age and sex distribution showed that 23.1 % of cases are females; the record showed that the cases in relation to affected females remain stable in accordance to the records over the past decade. However, it is important to note that in terms of age variation, females have more varying age group linked to cases of HIV compared to males. The diagnosis in females is relatively younger than males. The percentage of females in the 3 younger age groups revealed more cases. However, male cases of HIV/AIDS were recorded more in the 3 oldest age group. (Challombie, 2013).
In 2012, the largest recording of HIV cases were from Ontario that comprised 33.7% of the total cases, followed by British Columbia with 24.4%, Saskatchewan at 19.2% and Alberta with 16.9% cases reported. During the same year, in terms of age and sex distribution majority of the cases belonged to the 40 to 49 age group (34.9%) preceded by 30 to 39 years (25.6%), and lastly by 50 years and over (18.0%) (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2013).
The intervention programs are determined based on the qualitative and quantitative pieces of evidence linked to address the driving factors and risks drivers (or factors that empirically showed to shape patterns of risky behaviors in various population). Even if the field of HIV/AIDS prevention has progressed after 1996, no cure is still found to address the pandemic. The Canadian federal government made available prevention program to attempt to reduce or even eradicate the HIV diagnosis in their country. Health Canada is one of the Public Health Agency in Canada responsible for community-based HIV/AIDS prevention and education services. Another institution in Canada, the Canada Institute of Health Research incorporates extramural programs constituting an aid to the public service departments. Lastly, the Canadian federal government also offers correctional services which include both preventive measures and as well as treating people with HIV/AIDS.
One example of a prevention program offered in Canada is a non-profit group called Leading Together, the group offers and addresses the growing trend of HIV/AIDS in Canada. The prevention program offered by the group circulates in three stages: the before, during and after effect of HIV. In offers educational program which are community-based to reach more demographics in the population. It also aids in funding the models in order to address HIV in its earlier stage to avoid fatality and its spread. The preventive program offered by group is also offering both short-time and long-term coping mechanism for not only the HIV victim but also his or her family members. The prevention program also funds and support researches in Canada related to combatting HIV/AIDS (Leading together: Canada Takes Action on HIV/AID, 2010).
Despite the records of HIV cases in Canada appearing stable across the decade, a few critique still pinpoints about the weakness of the Canadian law in preventing the spread of the pandemic. In the website Global Commission on HIV and law, it mentions that Canada’s drug policy is directed towards the wrong crowd. The article claimed that Canada’s current federal government used everything in its power to the facility in Vancouver. The Vancouver facility that the article was mentioning was a supervised injection site, where addicts can inject street drugs under the professional supervision of the nurse. Due to the injection site, it was recorded that 35% drop in cases of fatal overdose and no needles were shared. Needle sharing is one way to spread HIV because it allows blood transmission. The article mentioned that before the closing of the facility, Canada was once one of the leading pioneers against harm reduction, but ironically, it turns it back on the very to HIV prevention method that it helped pioneered. Critics will add the health system in Canada lacks proper jurisdiction and method that it gives citizens difficult methods to interpret Global Commission on HIV and the law. (2014).
References:
Criminal law and HIV non-disclosure. Understanding the Criminal Law in Canada. HIV Disclosure and the Law: A Resource Kit for Service Providers Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Challacombe (2013). The epidemiology of HIV in Canada
Global Commission on HIV and the law. (2014) Op-Ed: Canada’s drug policy is in with the wrong crowd
Leading together: Canada Takes Action on HIV/AIDS (2005-2010)
Public Health Agency of Canada (2013), At a Glance - HIV and AIDS in Canada: Surveillance Report to December 31st, 2012.
Public Health Agency of Canada. Summary: Estimates of HIV Prevalence and Incidence in Canada, 2011. Surveillance and Epidemiology Division, Professional Guidelines and Public Health Practice Division, Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, 2012. Available at: www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/aids-sida/publication/survreport/estimat2011-eng.php
