Health

Record number of HIV cases reported in Saskatchewan – CKOM News Talk Sports

Published

2 years ago

June 1, 2022

Harry Miller

Saskatchewan continues to lead the country when it comes to new cases of HIV being reported per capita.

According to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, there were 237 new cases reported in the province in 2021.

That’s a 29 per cent increase from the 184 cases in 2020 and the most recorded in the province in a single year.

The number of new cases in Saskatchewan is roughly three times the national average.

It’s not just HIV that is seeing an increase in the province; sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia are also on the rise.

Dr. Johnmark Opondo, a medical health officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and an expert on HIV, offered some reasoning as to why Saskatchewan is at this point with new infections.

“I think some of the risk factors that make HIV acquisition likely — such as unsafe needle use or needle sharing or use of drugs — still continues to increase in Saskatchewan,” Opondo said. “The other pathway for HIV transmission is unprotected sexual encounters with multiple partners.

“If those two risk factors are still continuing, then unfortunately our numbers will continue.”

Opondo says more people per capita are injecting drugs in Western Canada than in the east and the problem has been getting particularly bad in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

“Living a life of chronic stress, poverty, disenchantment and drug use begins that whole vicious cycle,” he said.

“Saskatchewan and Manitoba are very, very similar. And unfortunately, our disease trends are similar. We may be at different stages of the epidemic, but I wouldn’t be surprised if our numbers and the increases that you’ve seen in Saskatchewan were also seen in Manitoba.”

The Ministry of Health is spending $5.979 million to support HIV services throughout the province.

In January, an HIV self-test initiative was launched to increase access to low-barrier testing. The self-tests are free of cost with kits being available at health centres, pharmacies and other places in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Rosthern, Nipawin, La Ronge, La Loche, Green Lake, North Battleford and Yorkton.

There are hopes that expanding the accessibility of HIV self-testing will directly support people in Saskatchewan who are most at risk for HIV.

Opondo says there is a lot of work to do in order to get numbers down.

“I think the first thing is we need to re-engage patients. I think claiming that the (COVID-19) pandemic didn’t have any impact or completely blaming the pandemic, neither of those statements are true,” he said.

“During the years 2010 to 2014, when we actually had a co-ordinated provincial strategy, that did help our numbers and turned the trend around. So, with focus and tighter co-ordination, I believe we can turn the situation around.”

Vidya Reddy, the education and information specialist for the AIDS Programs South Saskatchewan (APSS), believes there needs to be a new approach to curb the rising infections.

“Unlike the rest of the country, the main driver for HIV infections is from injection substance use,” Reddy said. “Ultimately, we have to make injection substance use and access to safe supplies widely prevalent across the province.

“Safe consumption sites, education — all these things must go hand in hand along with harm reduction measures.”

APSS is responsible for distributing around one million clean needles per year. It also provides education and outreach sessions in the community, as well as in schools and First Nations communities across Saskatchewan to promote HIV information testing and treatment.

Reddy says supporting harm reduction measures remains a vital aspect in lowering the number of HIV cases appearing in the province.

“There is a burden on the health-care system for every person who’s diagnosed with HIV,” Reddy said. “Their use of the health-care system dramatically decreases with harm reduction interventions.

“It saves health-care costs, it saves community costs, it increases safety, it decreases contact with the justice system and ultimately it saves our society an enormous amount of costs by saving lives.”

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Health

How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

Published

1 day ago

September 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.

The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.

Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.

“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”

The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.

A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.

Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.

“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.

Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.

The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.

“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

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Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

Published

2 days ago

September 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.

Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.

The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.

“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.

Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.

Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.

A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

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Bizarre Sunlight Loophole Melts Belly Fat Fast!

Published

3 days ago

September 10, 2024

Sven Eggers

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