Drug use driving Manitoba’s HIV rate to the second-highest in Canada

HIV self-test kits, photographed at the Toronto People With Aids Foundation office, in Toronto, Friday, Feb., 16, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

Manitoba has the second-highest rate of HIV in Canada, according to new data recently by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Manitoba’s HIV diagnosis rate was 19.3 per 100,000 people, just behind Saskatchewan’s rate of 19.4 per 100,000 but much higher than the national rate of 6.3 per 100,000 people.

The provincial government also released their annual surveillance report which showed, there were 280 newly diagnosed cases of HIV in 2023, up from 199 cases in 2022.

That’s a 40.7 per cent rise in new diagnoses and the majority were in the 30-39 year age range for both men and women.

There has also been a sharp increase in rate of infection among people aged 40-49 in 2023 up from 17.5 cases per 100,000 in 2022 to 40.7 per 100,000 in 2023.

The report shows an infection rate of 40.7 per 100,000 people, up from 17.5 cases per 100,000 in 2022.

“Cases in this age group are predominantly male, reside in the Winnipeg Health Region, and injection drug use was the most common risk factor reported,” the surveillance report reads.

The primary driver of HIV transmission is injecting drugs, with 82 per cent of women and 71 per cent of men reporting it as a factor in their infection.