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| AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) |
 | The AIDS and STD program goal is to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases in Waterloo Region and to prevent the complications from all of these conditions.
Resources and Statistics
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Activities and services that welcome people of all sexual orientations and diverse lifestyle backgrounds are as follows:
- Anonymous and confidential HIV testing
- HIV testing in pregnancy
- Sexually transmitted disease clinics that provide assessment, counselling and treatment including free medications
- Needle exchange services for people who use/inject drugs (for example heroine, crack/cocaine and steroids) to reduce the risk of infection with blood borne viruses such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C
- Assessment, education, support and referral for HIV positive clients
- Partnerships with, community-based agencies, schools, hospitals and area physicians
- Free condoms for individuals and community groups
- Safer sex and safer drug use information
- Resource information for people living with HIV/AIDS and STDs
- Health promotion and prevention activities through individual and family assessment and referral service including home visits
- Resource library of journals, books, posters, teaching kits and video tapes
- Workshops for target specific groups
- Consultations with pre-school day care institutions, schools, colleges, universities, work-places, community groups, and agencies
| Local, Provincial and National HIV/AIDS Statistics |
Table 1: Cumulative HIV/AIDS statistics by geographical region, 1998-2007.
| Geography | Cumulative number of new HIV diagnose | Cumulative number of reported AIDS cases |
Waterloo Region | 115 | 24 |
Ontario | 10,475 | 1,557 |
Canada | 23,800 | 4,120 |
Table 2: Cumulative number of deaths attributed to HIV/AIDS, 1987-2004.
| Geography | Cumulative number of deaths |
Waterloo Region | 85 |
Ontario | 6,008 |
Canada | 15,556 |
Important definitions and cautions:
- Canadian surveillance data are underestimates and are subject to delays in reporting, underreporting, and changing patterns in HIV testing behaviours. In addition, surveillance can only give a representation of who have been tested and diagnosed with HIV or AIDS, not those who remain untested and undiagnosed.
- Positive HIV Test Reports--the laboratory documentation of a person's confirmed HIV infection. The positive HIV test reports received by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) are published in this report. Positive HIV test reports should not be referred to as HIV incidence, but as new diagnoses reported to PHAC.
References:
- Public Health Agency of Canada. (2008) HIV and AIDS in Canada: Surveillance Report to December 31, 2007. Surveillance and Risk Assessment Division, Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control, Public Health Agency of Canada.
- Remis RS, Swantee C, Schiedel L, and Liu J. (2008) Report on HIV/AIDS in Ontario-2006. Ontario Ministry of Health.
- Region of Waterloo Public Health (2007) Waterloo Region Communicable Disease Status Report: 1995-2004.
- integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), Waterloo Region Public Health, extracted January 15, 2009.
- Deaths, 1987-2004, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, IntelliHealth, extracted January 15, 2009.
Visit http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/aids-sida/publication/survreport/index-eng.php for more information on Provincial, National and World statistics.
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