by Tom Yeung
Young people are emerging as the group
most at risk of HIV infection across the country. But in Vancouver,
an internationally recognized incubator for the disease, the numbers
don't show it because young people are not getting tested.
A World AIDS Day press release from the Canadian AIDS Society
reports youth continuing to be infected with HIV through sex and
drug use. The federal Ministry of Health estimates half of all
new infections across Canada occur among people 24 and under.
The YouthCo AIDS Society reports since 1982 the average age of
infection has dropped from 32 to 23 nationally, and between 1987
and 1991 one in four new infections were among youth.
A regional government study in Ottawa reports an increase in infections
among young gay men. But the long-expected "third wave"
of infections among youth in Greater Vancouver has yet to manifest
in solid numbers.
But, as youth workers, AIDS agencies and physicians agree, the
disease is out there even if the statistics don't show it.
The latest numbers from the BC Centre for Disease Control, for
Jan 1 to June 30, 1998, report the age group showing the highest
rate of infection is the 30-39 group, followed by those 40-49.
Mostly men, those combined age groups account for more than 60
percent of new 1998 infections.
The under-30 age group is still relatively small, with approximately
40 people small, with approximately 40 people age 15-29 testing
positive out of 262. The age proportion remains the roughly the
same even within the "Risk Unknown" category, a statistical
grouping where many AIDS advocates suspect the new infections
among young gay and bisexual men is hidden.
Young women, however, account for a higher proportion of women
testing positive compared to men. Nearly 20 to 45 women testing
positive so far in 1998 are under 30.
But the numbers don't tell the whole story, according to the associate
director of STD/AIDS control for the BCCDC.
Dr. David Patrick says people under 30 have the lowest turnout
for actually getting tested for HIV. There is usually a time delay
form when a young person becomes sexually active to when they
start getting tested, he says.
But Patrick wants young people to know that even though they're
not adults, young people can expect the same level of confidentiality
as adults getting tested. And people can use a false name for
tests.
"Even if your dad walked into the clinic, he couldn't get
your results."
YouthCo education coordinator Shaleena Theophilus says it's hard
to say what the precise barriers are to young people getting tested.
But living in small towns or suburbs is a factor, she says.
"Even in Whistler and Squamish one of the complaints we hear
is, "We want to go and get tested, but we know everybody
at the clinic. It's so and so's parents."
Theophilus says while young seroconverts may not show a dramatic
increase, the number of young people testing positive in BC is
slowly growing while other risk populations, such as drug users
and gay and bisexual men, are peaking then leveling off.
Often the problem is youth aren't aware of walk-in clinics where
they can get tested anonymously, says the Vanguard Project coordinator,
Steve Martindale.
For more information, contact:
Bonnie Devlin
Vanguard Project Coordinator
608 - 1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6Z 1Y6
Tel: (604)806-8306
Fax: (604)806-9044