Funding for HIV self-testing kits running low

With a simple prick of a finger, Canadians have been able to know their HIV status quickly from the comfort of their homes with self-testing kits. But as HIV rates rise across the country, funding for those kits is drying up.

Time-limited funding to provide these at-home self-testing kits at community organizations was first announced in 2022 but was extended into March 2024.

As Canada sees a jump in HIV cases, with the country reporting a 25 per cent increase or over 1,800 new cases reported in 2022, organizations that distribute the kits say more people are getting tested because of them.

“It’s a game-changer for people to know their status,” said Jared Star, the director of research for the Manitoba HIV-STBBI Collective Impact Network.

“A lot of people in this program are first-time testers, which is really important because everyone knows their status.”

Manitoba continues to have one of the highest HIV infection rates in the country, behind Saskatchewan.

According to the province, Manitoba saw a 36 per cent increase in the number of new HIV cases in 2022.

The province’s Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin told CityNews back in December that HIV transmission numbers have gotten worse post-pandemic. 

“Homelessness, addiction, poverty, those types of things are driving transmission. We need to better understand that we need to partner with community organizations to try to really address those underlying conditions before we are really going to see that progress,” said Dr. Brent Roussin, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer.

The Public Health Agency of Canada tells CityNews that organizations can still order the tests while supplies last despite funding being allocated till this March.

“We’re going to need to mobilize and ensure that we are providing resources for folks to access testing in an accessible way in their community in spite of these kits running out,” said Star.