$14 million for projects combatting sexually transmitted, blood-borne infections on the Prairies

The federal health minister was in Winnipeg Wednesday morning to announce more than $14 million for projects addressing sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections.

Nine Circles Community Health Centre is one of 14 organizations receiving federal funds in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

More than $1 million has been earmarked to help the health centre with prevention, testing and treatment efforts.

Meantime, six other Manitoba projects are also getting cash from Ottawa for prevention initiatives.

Health Minister Mark Holland says more than 62,000 Canadians are living with HIV/AIDS, and one in five is unaware of their infection.

Additionally, many of those infected with Hepatitis C are unaware of their condition, and sexually transmitted infections like chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are on the rise.

A stigma still exists around these types of infections, he says, and removing it is key to eradicating them.

“We should be able to talk about sexual and reproductive health as we talk about any other form of health, but we know for Indigenous people, for racialized individuals, for LGBTQ that those barriers are even higher, and that’s why the work that is being done by Nine Circles and others is so important.”

Nine Circles’ project will share evidence-based prevention measures with other Manitoba service providers, while helping to deliver culturally safe prevention, testing and treatment.

Nine Circles executive director Mike Payne said in a news release they are grateful for the funding.

“This funding allows us to bring together a broad range of partners all over Manitoba to address complex challenges related to HIV-STBBIs by supporting collaborative efforts that lead to collective impact,” he said.

“This support has allowed us to create innovative tools for education, assessment and action including scale up of HIV Self-Testing and Stigma reducing interventions."