Of the $17.9 million, $8 million will go toward buying HIV self-test kits and distributing them to community organizations, Duclos said at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal. The other $9.9 million will go to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg to expand HIV testing to northern, remote or isolated (NRI) communities. “HIV self-test kits offer a safe, reliable and confidential way to test for HIV infection, while significantly reducing barriers to care-seeking often created by stigma and discrimination,” a government news release said. Health Canada approved the first HIV self-test in late 2020. It’s a one-minute blood test from Richmond, BC-based bioLytical Laboratories Inc. Duclos said the government is trying to apply lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to HIV/AIDS. “We know that HIV is preventable, yet the rate of HIV infection remains high in Canada and other countries. Giving people access to testing, treatment and care can help reverse this trend. “Removing the barrier is the key to ending the AIDS pandemic.”
Ottawa urged to increase spending on HIV-AIDS
In October 2020, the federal government began providing rapid testing to provinces and territories for free. For many Canadians, rapid antigen tests have replaced widespread polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests as fewer people became eligible for them due to high demand during the Omicron wave. In June, the CBC learned that Ottawa is moving toward ending the distribution of rapid COVID-19 tests to the provinces and territories by the end of the year. The government estimates there are nearly 63,000 people living with HIV in Canada, and 1 in 10 of them don’t know they have the virus. Ahead of the Montreal conference, a coalition of HIV/AIDS organizations called on the government to increase annual federal spending on HIV/AIDS from $73 million to $100 million. The government last week pledged $15 million to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The five-day AIDS 2022 conference ends on Tuesday.