Saskatchewan maintains dismal status as leader in spread of HIV, with no provincial strategy in place

HIV rates remain high in Sask. WATCH: Stacey Hein has more on how the province’s infectious disease network is prompting calls to stop the spread of HIV.

Advocates for Saskatchewan’s HIV-positive residents are calling for a provincial strategy to support those living with the virus, and to help stop its spread.

Saskatchewan continues to have the highest rate of HIV diagnosis in the country — five times the national average per capita, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Katelyn Roberts is the executive director and co-founder of Sanctum Care Group, a non-profit that provides care to HIV patients. She says the statistics are not surprising.

“We haven't seen a substantial investment in HIV, nor have we seen a substantial strategy to address it, and so seeing the rates increase comes as no surprise,” she said.

The Saskatchewan Infectious Disease Network recently released its final report on the Saskatoon HIV Program Evaluation.

When looking at HIV care services in Saskatoon, the report said there were gaps and duplication in services, highlighting the need for a focused strategy to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.

The report says Saskatchewan is currently without a provincial HIV strategy and says it’s replacement — the Saskatchewan HIV Collaborative — has a lack of understanding of its direction and role.

“The evaluation identified the urgent need for a cohesive HIV provincial strategy, dedicated responsive funding, improved data sharing, better coordination and cooperation, and more access to basic needs and HIV peer support,” the report read.

Roberts agrees a provincial strategy is needed.

“Having a provincial strategy, I think, is of the utmost importance in terms of being able to provide coordinated access to care,” Roberts said.

Coordinated care is a collaborative approach between multiple care providers to develop a care plan that best meets the patient's needs, according to Health Quality Ontario.

The Saskatoon HIV Program Evaluation report says while the HIV care system in Saskatoon is functioning, the relationships between care providers and organizations are strained.

“We’re competing against each other and trying to position ourselves ahead of the next one so that we can get proper funding so our programs can be sustained,” said Dr. Morris Markentin, a family physician at Saskatoon’s West Side Community Clinic and co-founder of Sanctum Care Group.

He said coordinated care would help the organizations work together and make it easier for patients to access services.

Markentin and Roberts both say addressing a lack of low-income housing and addictions issues are key to curbing the climbing rates.

“It’s important to understand that housing and addiction play a big role in terms of stabilizing people with HIV,” Roberts said.

“Until we can come up with a strategy to better support those people, lift them out of homelessness, I think we're going to continue to see rates rise.”

CTV News reached out to both the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and the Ministry of Health for comment.

A spokesperson with the SHA said the ministry is working on a response. CTV News did not hear back from the Ministry of Health by its publication deadline.