AIDS still a threat to Aboriginal community

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Don't get complacent.

That's the message one of Canada's leaders in the fight against AIDS brought to a Regina conference on Jan. 29.

Dr. Jay Wortman delivered the keynote address to the Epidemics in Our Communities conference hosted by the All Nations Hope AIDS Network and AIDS Programs South Saskatchewan.

Wortman, who has devoted his working life to combating the spread of the disease, said the number of full-blown AIDS cases among Aboriginal people has leveled off in recent years. That doesn't mean that the Aboriginal or health care communities can be less vigilant or cut back their efforts to promote ways to stop the spread of the disease, he said.

"People are clearly aware of the HIV threat," said Wortman. "But I'm not sure how much that translates into preventing the disease amongst people who are really high risk. I think more needs to be done."

AIDS, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, is an infection in the body due to the presence of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that severely damages the body's immune system.

A person infected with HIV can live a long time before contracting diseases that may eventually kill them. When an HIV-infected person's case develops into full-blown AIDS, the person's body can no longer resist infection.

HIV is not spread through casual contact, such as sharing clothing, shaking hands or being in the same room as an infected person. It's primarily spread through the transmission of bodily fluids-transfusions of infected blood, sharing unclean needles, and unprotected sex.

Early prevention programs have caused the number of reported HIV cases to be leveled off in recent years. And the news is just as optimistic for those who have been infected with HIV. Thanks to new retroviral drugs, it takes longer for those who are infected with HIV to develop full-blown AIDS.

However, the success of these drugs also means a that a generation of young Canadian-Aboriginal as well as non-Aboriginal-don't remember people dying from the disease, he said.

Without maintaining and increasing programs to combat HIV's spread, many First Nations communities may return to the days of 15 years ago when many were unfamiliar with the disease, he added.

"There was a time when there was very low awareness of HIV in the Aboriginal community. There weren't too many examples of it. People weren't thinking about it," Wortman said. "The challenge at that time was to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, and get people to understand that it is a threat."

Wortman has been doing just that throughout his medical career. In the late 1980s, the young Metis doctor befriended Dr. Peter Jepson-Young, a fellow doctor who had contracted HIV. The two wanted to educate the public about preventing the spread of the virus. The result was a two-year series of programs on CBC Vancouver, The Dr. Peter Diaries, in which Jepson-Young would talk about how the virus would eventually kill him, and how others could prevent the spread of HIV. Jepson-Young died in November 1992.

Jay Wortman has continued his work to combat the spread of HIV. He developed a teaching module for family doctors that's now used throughout the Canadian medical system. He's also traveled the world to bring the same message to Indigenous peoples in many countries.

Wortman has also developed the first HIV prevention program specifically targeted at Aboriginal people. He received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award last year in recognition of his medical service to Canada's Indigenous people.

In his speech, he acknowledged that many Aboriginal people live below the poverty line and in sub-standard housing, and that people who live in such conditions find it difficult to take the necessary precautions against HIV.

"You have to make sure people know what should and shouldn't be done," he said. "We also have to address underlying conditions such as poverty, socio-economics and disruptive communities."

If thos underlying issues can be dealt with, Canada's Aboriginal communities will also be in a better shape to fight other epidemics, such as pandemic influenza and diabetes, he concluded.