Note: this brief was originally published in 2018 and has been updated with recent developments in 2020.
In recent years, the Government of Canada has renewed a commitment to ongoing dialogue and constructive engagement with civil society in the response to HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs). In 2019, in response to long-standing calls from national HIV organizations, and following consultation with provincial and territorial governments, researchers and community organizations, the federal government released a new Five-Year Action Plan on Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections (STBBIs). This is a welcome development. But it must be accompanied by a commitment to correct the chronic underfunding of the HIV response that has dragged on for more than a decade.
Since 2004, a cumulative total of more than $123 million has been diverted or withheld from funding that was committed to this strategy. It’s well past time to adequately fund the fight to end HIV.
For more information, see our press release.