A doctor’s plea for a safe consumption site for Kenora as it deals with spike in HIV/AIDS – CBC
More cases of HIV/AIDS in northwestern Ontario city in last 12 months than in last 8 years: NWHU
Jan 06, 2023
More cases of HIV/AIDS have been reported in Kenora, Ont., in the last 12 months than in the last eight years, and a doctor practising in the community says a safe consumption site is needed to help address the issue.
In 2022, the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) reported nine confirmed cases of HIV/AIDS in the northwestern Ontario city. In the previous eight years, there were only eight confirmed cases, according to NWHU data.
Dr. Jonny Grek says that number may be much higher — he’s seen 15 new cases reported in the past nine months, and said the health unit’s data lags behind what he’s seeing at the ground level.
“Our numbers are from the street point-of-care testing, which are then followed up with a lab confirmed test — and so far, there have been no false positives on the point-of-care testing,” Grek told CBC News in an interview.
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/kenora-ontario-hiv-aids-drugs-1.6704349
