Sunday, February 7th marks the second annual African, Caribbean and Black Canadian HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Black, African and Caribbean Network (CHABAC) and its partners started this day because we need to raise awareness of HIV, promote HIV prevention, and address HIV-related stigma and homophobia in Canada’s African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) communities. On this day we are asking people to stop and reflect on the impact of HIV in Canada’s ACB community as well as to fight the silence and denial that so many in our community want to maintain.
The good news is that there have been some real advances in addressing HIV and we now have more tools than ever to prevent, diagnose and treat. Research evidence tell us that condoms and other emerging prevention technologies such as pre-exposure phophylaxis (PrEP — when an HIV-negative person takes anti-HIV drugs to reduce their risk of becoming infected) and treatment as prevention (TASP — when an HIV positive person uses anti-HIV drugs to significantly decrease the risk of HIV transmission to a negative partner) are incredibly effective in preventing new HIV infections.
We are also living in a time when there are especially effective treatments that, when accessible, largely ensure a long life for people diagnosed with HIV. We know that many Black Canadians diagnosed with HIV are living relatively healthy lives when compared with other HIV positive Canadians. For instance, in Ontario the health outcomes for Black people receiving HIV treatment are largely in line with the health outcomes for others receiving the same treatments. This suggests that we are doing well in the fight to treat and support members of our community who are living with HIV. This also means that Black Canadians living with HIV are engaged in their care and that those that have been diagnosed are on HIV treatment.