OTP 110: HIV/AIDS Prevalence in Canada and Implications for Healthcare

This report provides a comprehensive overview of HIV/AIDS prevalence in Canada, examining its historical trends, current statistics, and geographic distribution. It highlights the challenges faced by healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, in managing patients with HIV/AIDS, including issues of patient adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART), the impact of stigma, and the complexities of the Canadian healthcare system's coverage for pharmaceutical services. The report also addresses the implications for OTA/PTA practice, emphasizing the need for healthcare providers to understand and address the unique needs of individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The report includes a discussion of the importance of effective communication, trust-building, and monitoring to ensure optimal patient outcomes. It concludes by emphasizing the ongoing significance of HIV/AIDS as a public health concern in Canada.

Running Head: HIV/AIDS PREVALENCE IN CANADA
HIV/AIDS prevalence in Canada
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HIV/AIDS prevalence in Canada
Introduction
HIV/AIDS has affected many people throughout the globe. Since 1980, there have
twenty-five million deaths associated with HIV/AIDS involving children, women, and men.
Currently, there are over forty million people who are living with HIV and AIDS around the
globe while two million die annually from AIDS-associated diseases. The Center for Disease
Control and Prevention approximates that one-third of all the Americans having HIV/AIDS are
not aware that they are living with the condition. In Canada, annually, 34000 women and men
are diagnosed with an infection of HIV. People living with HIV/AIDS in Canada comes from all
facets of the community as well as from all regions of the country. It should be noted that
approximately 47% of the HIV/AIDS infection in the country is among men who are having sex
with men (Hogg et al. 2018). Migrants from endemic countries, Aboriginal population and the
injection drug user’s area among the groups who are disproportionately affected by the HIV in
Canada. Canada is one of the countries which is affected by HIV/AIDS infection (Ti et al. 2017).
This paper will critically discuss the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Canada and the challenges it
poses the healthcare professionals.
Overall trends of HIV/AIDS in Canada
In 2017, there were about 2403 new cases of HIV in the country which signified an
increase of 3.1% compared to 2016 as well as an increase of 17% since 2014. The rate of
diagnosis nationally rose to 6.6 per population in 2017 from 5.7 per 100000 in 2014. However,
there was little change between 2016 and 2017, that is, 6.3 per 100000 vis-à-vis 6.4 per 100000.
There has been a reduction in the yearly rate of diagnosis between 1997 and 2000, which was

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preceded by a rise in 2001 (Liboro & Walsh, 2016). According to HIV estimates of 2016,
individuals with HIV in the country include gay, bisexual and other men having sex with men
(32760) which represents over 50% of all the people having HIV infection in the country,
injection drugs were about 10980 which represented 17.5% of individuals having HIV/AIDS in
the country. People who had HIV infection due to heterosexual sex were 20540 which translated
to 33% of all the people having HIV infection in the country. Six hundred were people whose
HIV status could not be linked to either injection drug use or sex, 6057 (9.7%) were indigenous
people while 14530 (24%) were females.
Geographic distribution of HIV/AIDS in Canada
The most present approximates available by geographic location were taken in 2011. The
estimates reported that HIV infection was concentrated majorly in gay, bisexual, and other men
having sex with men in British Columbia (45.6%), 54.1% in Atlantic province, 56% in Ontario
and 54.1% in Quebec (Injeyan et al. 2018).
Healthcare workers involvement of management of HIV/AIDS in Canada and the challenges
they face
The provision of healthcare to patients with HIV/AIDS poses a challenge to healthcare
professionals like nurses. The challenges entail identification as well as management of unique
problems, techniques, counselling, the administration of care as well as the ability to
communicate appropriately with community groups, families and individuals. Of the principal
obligations of nurses to the clients and patients is to offer duty of beneficence. Most of the times
nurses usually feel they have failed their clients and patients if the treatment they provide is not
successful. However, the treatment and management of HIV/AIDS normally depend on the Anti-

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Retroviral Therapy (ART) which needs both the participation of the client and the provider in the
health work of HIV/AIDS care. However, most of the times clients to do not adhere to the ART
treatment. Lack of trust among the clients and the care providers is one of the reasons why
adherence to treatment is not observed. In the healthcare context, one of the best ways of
ensuring that adherence to treatment is observed is by questioning and monitoring of the client
(Aguinaldo et al. 2016). At each appointment, nurses need to ask about whether the clients
missed medication and follow up if the blood work indicates less than the adequate ART
adherence.
It should be noted that the resistance to various treatment regimens usually needs
adjustments or changes to the medication offered; thus, keeping watch over adherence is vital to
medical practice (Schuklenk, 2018). Nevertheless, some clients can express annoyance over
monitoring and questioning. Some clients normally link questioning and monitoring concerning
adherence with stigma. It should be noted that Canada has a single-payer, universal healthcare
system for hospital and physician services. Nevertheless, healthcare funded by the government
does not extend to covering pharmaceutical services outside the hospitals. In the whole country,
there is a huge difference between provincial and federal government programs as well as private
insurance programs which provide a certain degree of prescription drug coverage. These are
often linked to membership or employment in certain groups. Nonetheless, there is no guarantee
for people that one of the plans will cover ART costs.
Conclusion
HIV/AIDS is one of the serious diseases not only in Canada but also in other countries of
the world. The rate of prevalence is reducing in most countries due to awareness programs and

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technological advancements in the health sector. Nurses must effectively know how to handle
clients who are living with HIV/AIDS.
References
Aguinaldo, J. P., Ahluwalia, A., Hambly, K., Koornstra, J., Rankin, B., & Roesslein, K. (2016).
Needs and Supports in Transitional Housing for People Living with HIV/AIDS in
Ontario, Canada. Journal of Social Service Research, 42(3), 352–362. Retrieved from
https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2015.1101046
Hogg, R. S., Heath, K., Lima, V. D., Nosyk, B., Kanters, S., Wood, E., … Montaner, J. S. G.
(2018). Correction: Disparities in the Burden of HIV/AIDS in Canada. PLoS
ONE, 13(12), 1–3. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209045
Injeyan, H. S., Connell, G., Foster, K., Kopansky-Giles, D., Sovak, G., & Tibbles, T. (2018). The
prevalence and characteristics of HIV/AIDS patients presenting at a chiropractic
outpatient clinic in Toronto, Ontario. A retrospective, observational study. Journal of the
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Liboro, R., & Walsh, R. (2016). Understanding the Irony: Canadian Gay Men Living with
HIV/AIDS, Their Catholic Devotion, and Greater Well-being. Journal of Religion &
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Schuklenk, U. (2018). The trouble with public health: HIV/AIDS in Canada as a case in
point. Bioethics, 32(2), 82. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12429
Ti, L., Dong, H., Kerr, T., Turje, R., Parashar, S., Min, J., … Milloy, M. (2017). The effect of
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