Pop-up event aims to reduce stigma and test more people for HIV

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It is estimated that one in ten Ottawa residents living with HIV do not know they are infected, something health officials are working to change.

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Next week, representatives from Ottawa Public Health and organizations that support people living with HIV and AIDS will be running a pop-up testing booth with information sessions to help reduce the number of undiagnosed people in the city. .

Patrick O’Byrne, professor of nursing at the University of Ottawa and nurse practitioner at Ottawa Public Health, said Tuesday’s awareness event, which is National HIV Testing Day, should help both reduce the stigma around HIV testing and get more tests into people’s hands. .

O’Byrne is one of the creators of GetaKit, a free HIV testing kit that people can do at home. It’s like a rapid COVID-19 test but involves a finger swipe similar to the diabetes test.

The kits will be distributed next Tuesday, June 27, at a pop-up kiosk in the ByWard Market building (55 Byward Market Square), O’Byrne said. People can either take the kits home or get help making them on the spot.

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O’Byrne is optimistic the event will help reach some people who have never been tested for HIV before. This happened recently during a similar pop-up in Kingston.

O’Byrne said stigma remains one of the biggest barriers to people being tested and then treated if they test positive.

“Stigma is probably the biggest problem we face with HIV. It stops people from wanting to get tested and isolates people,” O’Byrne said.

One of the most important messages that organizations such as OPH, AIDS Committee of Ottawa and MAX Ottawa – who are participating in the awareness event – want to convey is that HIV can be easily managed, like a disease chronic.

In the mid to late 1990s, treatment for HIV consisted of a daily cocktail of pills. From now on, the treatment can consist of an injection every eight weeks.

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“It’s remarkable progress,” O’Byrne said.

UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, has set a goal that 95% of people living with HIV will be diagnosed, receive treatment and have undetectable levels of HIV in their system.

Canada has met the previous target of 90%, O’Byrne said, but the push is underway to achieve higher levels of testing, treatment and outcomes in the years to come.

New infection rates have steadily improved in Ottawa over the past few years, he said.

The GetaKit test also includes Chlamydia and Gonorrhea test requests. They are the most commonly reported sexually transmitted infections in Ottawa and rates have increased significantly over the past five years, according to Ottawa Public Health. They may also be risk factors for acquiring HIV, O’Byrne said.

GetaKit is part of a University of Ottawa study evaluating an online assessment and mailing system for sexual health services, including screening and prevention.

People 16 or older who are HIV-negative or unsure of their status, sexually active people, or injection drug users may be eligible for self-testing. More information is available at getakit.ca.

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