New infections are back to 1982 levels
The number of annual cases of HIV-AIDS in Canada and the U.S. has grown back to 1982 levels, when the epidemic was rampant in the gay community. Today, delegates at the International AIDS Conference heard that beyond gay men, those being infected now are increasingly IV drug users, and members of visible minority communities, particularly aboriginals and immigrants in Canada. In Canada in 2008, there were approximately 3,300 new HIV infections, and the rates of infection are steadily rising, while they have leveled in the U.S. Dr. Strathdee, who presented an epidemiological portrait of the epidemic in the U.S. and Canada, said inequities in race, ethnic group, gender, sexual orientation and immigration status are drivers of the epidemic. “All this translates into unequal access to prevention and care,” she said.