6% of Manitobans got HIV tests last year and that's not enough, says local organizer of national testing day

There aren't enough Manitobans being tested for HIV, says a local organizer of the country's first national HIV testing day.

Mike Payne, executive director of Nine Circles Community Health Centre, says only six per cent of Manitobans were tested in the last year.

"We know that probably more than six per cent of Manitobans are sexually active and so we know there's a lot of work to do in closing that gap," Payne said.

The free event today is supposed to encourage people to get tested, reduce stigma surrounding the illness and ensure quick access to treatment. 

There's a lot of work to do in closing that gap- Mike Payne, Nine Circles Community Health Centre

People can ask for a test during any routine doctor's visit or go to health organizations in Winnipeg and Brandon that are promoting the day, such as Nine Circles Community Health Centre, Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre and Klinic Community Health.

Numerous populations at risk

Payne said they must combat misconceptions people still harbour about the virus, which may lead to AIDS, a potentially life-threatening condition.

Almost 60 per cent of new HIV diagnoses each year involve heterosexual people, he said.

"It's always a surprise to people because people still have a lot of old assumptions with what HIV is." 

Another barriers to testing is people being too shy or uncomfortable to inquire about it, he said.

Locally, he's concerned by the low testing rates. If people don't know they've contracted HIV or another sexually transmitted disease, they won't shift their behaviour, Payne said.

A majority of people are only diagnosed with HIV at an advanced point in their illness, he said.

"Our low testing rates, we believe, are part of the reason why we're not able to get a handle on the rates of infection."

In 2016, the province diagnosed 128 new cases of HIV — the second highest rate in the country, behind only Saskatchewan.

In Manitoba, approximately 1,285 people live with HIV.

The province's 2016 statistical report on HIV/AIDS says a third of the new HIV cases in 2016 were found in people arriving from countries where rates of illness are already high. Unprotected sex between men and women and between just men are other major risk factors for HIV.

The bulk of new cases — almost 40 per cent — had no identifiable risk factor, meaning there was no information provided about how the person might have contracted the virus. 

More than half of HIV patients who self-reported their ethnicity identified as either black or Indigenous (55 per cent), said the provincial report.

Unprotected sex and sharing needles and sex toys can all put a person at risk of contracting HIV, Health Canada says. Mothers with HIV can also transmit it to their babies during childbirth or while breastfeeding.

The Manitoba HIV Program encourages people age 18-70 to be tested every five years.

Individuals belonging to populations at higher risk of HIV — such as men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs or have unprotected sex and people from countries in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan African — should be tested annually.