AIDS advocates call for support as epidemic grows in Aboriginal communities

published on February 7, 2008 in Georgia Straight

As the number of aboriginal people living with HIV and AIDS in Canada grows, efforts to address the situation should consider the social factors, such as poverty, behind the epidemic, advocates say.

But for much-needed progress to be made, the stigma and discrimination borne by aboriginal people with AIDS must end, according to the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network. That’s why the network is calling on First Nations, Métis, and Inuit leaders ahead of Valentine’s Day, and asking them to speak out on the issue in public.

"A lot of us take it for granted. If we’re healthy and living with friends and family and loved ones around us, we think that everything’s all right in the world," Kevin Barlow, the network’s executive director, told the Georgia Straight by phone from Ottawa. "In reality a lot of aboriginal people who are living with HIV and AIDS talk about the isolation and the rejection they experience." More >>

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Epidemiology and Population Health

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© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.