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Fact Sheet #1
Aboriginals and HIV/AIDS
By Stephen Entwisle
Information specialist, AIDS-Calgary

The number of Aboriginals who are diagnosed with HIV is increasing at an alarming rate.

  • The proportion of cases attributed to Aboriginal persons has risen from 2% before 1989 to more than 10% in 1996-97;
  • Aboriginals now account for 17% of all new cases of HIV infection;
  • These numbers may not reflect the actual numbers because ethnic background information is not collected in as many as 40 % of HIV tests.
  • As of November, 1998, 5% of the Southern Alberta AIDS Clinic’s HIV-positive patients are Aboriginal";
  • In the Aboriginal population, the number of females who are diagnosed with HIV is proportionately higher than in the general population.

Social Conditions

The social conditions in which many Aboriginals live have a strong contributory factor to the susceptibility to HIV and AIDS. Poverty, alcoholism and drug dependency are more common in Aboriginal populations than in the general population. A large number of Aboriginal people with HIV are living in sub-standard housing. Not even their most basic needs are being met.

Mobility of Population

Mobility between inner city and rural/reserve counties is an important factor in the introduction and spread of HIV from infected individuals. Travel to and from these areas by Aboriginal people increases the chance that diseases will be introduced to previously unexposed populations. Often in the migration from an urban centre to their reserve, there is a gap in the provision of education, treatment and prevention services.

Community Response

There are many factors within the Aboriginal community that serve as barriers to addressing HIV, such as the continued perception that HIV/AIDS is a white man’s disease, homophobic preconceptions of the disease, and the fact that many rural/reserve Aboriginals consider it to be an urban problem. Within the Aboriginal community there is often insufficient education, funding or political will to develop support services.

Culture

Differences between Aboriginal and mainstream cultures can create difficulties in dealing with the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The Aboriginal population holds cultural norms and customs which differ significantly from other populations in which AIDS prevention programs have been implemented. The special customs and structure of Indian society need to be understood by service providers in order to select prevention strategies that will be meaningful and credible in the Indian culture. 

Click here to go to the related briefing document.

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