ALARM SOUNDED ON HIV, DRUG USE

Lack Of Testing Is Key Issue

Less than two per cent of Albertans are being tested for HIV in a given
year, and the number could be even lower among injection drug users, says a
city advocate.

It's one more solid argument behind Capital Health funding the
$250,000-per-year Streetworks education program, said Sherry McKibben,
director of the HIV Network of Edmonton.

"The real way to address this is to develop programs that speak to the
issues addressing injection drug users, and that's exactly what Streetworks
was developed for," said McKibben.

About 75 new cases of HIV are diagnosed in Edmonton annually, based on
statistics from 1999 to 2002. McKibben said the low testing rates may
significantly contribute to why infection rates here aren't going down.

That's because fully 50% of new HIV cases in Edmonton between 1998 and 2002
were among IV drug users, up from just 10% a decade ago. With potentially
less than 2% of those users being tested, the likelihood for transmission
is significant.

"If you look at the literature, it's actually a little more complicated"
than two per cent testing positive, said McKibben.

"That two per cent doesn't account for whether people were tested more than
once, which would not be uncommon for some people at risk. So the actual
number is probably lower."

McKibben said testing stats are likely skewed upwards by repeated tests by
individuals in the gay community. But the same doesn't generally hold true
of injection drug users.

"I don't think you can assume that at all," said McKibben. "If anything,
the majority of injection drug users don't ever get tested. They don't have
the kind of social structure that would lead them to do that."

Streetworks was a three-year pilot project and Alberta Health has refused
to continue funding it, saying that's up to Capital Health now that its
"seed" money is used up. Capital Health wasn't prepared to say yesterday
whether it will pick up the funding.

"We recognize the importance of Streetworks and it is a priority for us to
try to come up with some funding options, to come up with alternative funds
to the program," said Capital Health spokesman Ed Greenberg, noting Capital
Health was already paying $100,000 of the total.

"We are actively working on potential strategies with the Alberta
government and have been meeting with the doctors from infectious diseases
who have concerns to try to find a way to keep it going."

It would be a huge long-term public gain if it did, said McKibben. A move
to frequent testing among the drug community, either via Streetworks or a
safe injection site, might lower retransmission via sex or infected needles.

That could save the health system millions in the long run, she said.