After 25 five years of prevention, education and support work, several questions remain about community engagement and the efficacy of community based prevention initiatives. Central to this conversation is the issue of HIV testing.
Testing has always been a critical component in the fight against HIV, however, community based groups and mainstream medical professionals have struggled to normalize the HIV testing experience. HIV testing is unique as it is surrounded by a litany of public health recommendations and legislation.
HIV is criminalized in Canada which means that someone who is HIV positive is required to disclose their status to their sexual partners. If they do not disclose their status they can be charged under Canada’s criminal code. The litany of issues surrounding the criminalization of HIV is far too deep to dive into here. A critical element in regards to testing is how criminalization contributes to the ongoing stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV. People living with HIV today still face discrimination, fear, and sometimes even anger once they go public with their HIV status.
The best way to prevent HIV is by ensuring the health and wellness of those who have it and promoting a rights-based approach to sexual health and wellness information. The issue of testing has become more complex with many factors weighing in such as: confidentiality, onset of rapid testing, opt out screening instead of informed consent, and the movement of some provincial governments to remove the necessity of pre and post test counseling.
To respond to these issues, AIDS Calgary is beginning a process to push out testing to normalize the process. Major health programs such as breast cancer or diabetes have successfully used screening processes. Although we acknowledge important differences between screening programs and HIV testing, the end product should be the same. A person undergoing testing should have no fear of stigma, discrimination or reprisals from their friends, family or community.
To begin the process of spreading information about accessible testing we are working in collaboration with ASO’s across Canada and Bristol-Meyers Squibb Canada with the One Life Campaign (www.luvU2.ca).
We are ultimately working towards ACAA becoming a rapid testing site. With testing on site we can ensure the highest quality testing practices including anonymous testing, pre and post test counseling and additional sexual health and wellness counseling.
Welcome to the AIDS Calgary blog and I hope to see you back for more articles on important issues around HIV/AIDS. We have upcoming articles around treatment as prevention, HIV in the Aboriginal community, and the use of female condoms for anal sex. Please come back and visit each Thursday when we post a new article or sign up for our RSS feed to get our content delivered straight to your inbox.
Sincerely,
Susan Cress
Executive Director
AIDS Calgary Awareness Association
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