but in practice, we have seen more organizations and more health issues competing for a slice of the same pie, resulting in funding reductions and service cuts for community-based hiv programs.
when adequately funded, community-based programs have the power to stop the hiv epidemic.
they counsel people at risk of infection, educate them about current prevention options and help them access these tools.
they support people living with hiv to start and stay on treatment, helping to improve their own health and the health of the communities around them.
and some offer free hiv testing in the community, the first step towards referring hiv-negative and hiv-positive people to the prevention or treatment services they need.
community-based programs are also better positioned to engage individuals in communities that have been marginalized from mainstream healthcare services, including the communities most affected by hiv in canada: gay and bisexual men, trans women, indigenous people, african, caribbean and black canadians, and people who use drugs.
these programs have been proven to work when governments invest in them.
while canada has seen hiv infection estimates increase over the past few years, the united kingdom has seen them decrease — 50% among heterosexual men and 22% among women (between 2014 and 2017), and an incredible 71% among gay and bisexual men (between 2012 and 2018).