New HIV Cases Return to Levels Seen in Early 1980s; Shift Sees Fewer Homosexual Patients

Canada's HIV epidemic "is changing, and so must our response," according to Dr. Steffanie Strathdee, associate dean of Global Health Services in the department of medicine at the University of California-San Diego.

"The downward trend [in new HIV infections] in Canada started reversing itself in 2001." Canada saw approximately 3,300 new HIV diagnoses in 2008, according to data from the Public Health Agency of Canada. Among the new cases, 36 percent were heterosexuals, and 44 percent were men who have sex with men. Increasingly, Strathdee said, new diagnoses are turning up among IV drug users, immigrants and aboriginals. Strathdee, who holds dual Canada-US citizenship, made her remarks Thursday at the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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