NEW GLASGOW – Local groups are claiming that the incidence of AIDS, HIV and Hepatitis C is increasing rapidly in Pictou County, primarily due to a rising number of intravenous drug users in the region.
Rayann Toner, executive director of the Pictou County Centre for Sexual Health, says that a study published in 2000, done by Caroline Ploems for Health Canada Population and Public Health Branch, shows that there are six “hot spots” in mainland Nova Scotia where injection drug use has been identified as a problem.
Four of those hot spots – Trenton, New Glasgow, Pictou and Stellarton – are here in Pictou County. The other two are metro Halifax and Amherst.
The insight Ploems gave in her research, recently presented by the Northern Aids Connection Society, provides some context for the region, Toner says.
“Ploem’s insights into the behaviour of injection drug users in the area – which is a rural area – is that we don’t have females working the streets here, but we do have an increase in Dilaudid use among young people,” she said. “Those numbers are rising and the studies show that they have a rural attitude towards needle sharing.”
That means, Toner says, that most of the people using intravenous drugs know each other and tend to inject in house settings during parties. They think little of sharing needles, she added.
“It’s an extremely huge problem,” she says, adding that the incidence of HIV has more than doubled nationally in recent years. “It’s a problem that needs to be highlighted that no one’s talking about.”
Through her work with the sexual health centre, which does outreach into local high schools and provides a spot for people to access 23,000 free condoms and dental dams, Toner encounters a lot of young people. And that’s left her worried – in 2008, 58.3 per cent of the positive HIV tests in the province were among 15- to 19-year-old females.
“Here, at the sexual health centre, we have young women coming in all the time, and HIV and AIDS are not even on their radar,” she said. “They’re looking for birth control, but safe sex is something they’re not concerned about.”
Toner says one of the scariest things is that many have the misconception that there’s a cure for HIV.
“The thinking among a lot of young people these days is that these drugs that prolong the lives of people with HIV and AIDS is actually a cure,” she said.
“It’s not.”
Rob Marshall, who is chairing this year’s AIDS Awareness Walk, is particularly concerned about young people in the community.
“I remember when AIDS started to be an issue, it was the gay man’s disease,” he said. “Young people are being affected now and that’s because of the drug culture.”
The walk will be held on Sunday and aims primarily to raise awareness about the issue, but also funds will come back to Pictou County to provide education and support for people in the area who are afflicted with the disease.
Registration for the event will begin at 1 p.m., with walkers leaving the New Glasgow YMCA at 2 p.m. to walk down Provost Street, up George Street and along Archimedes to a barbecue held at Studio R.
Marshall is hoping to see a large number of people attend this year’s event and wants to see the local high schools come on board to join in. The walk is being held later than usual, he said, to enable the schools to participate.
“The last several walks were before the kids went back to school, so we were missing them,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of inquiries from the schools, and the Pictou County Centre for Sexual Health and the Northern Aids Connection Society are doing a lot of education about it.”
The attention the walk brings to AIDS and HIV is essential, he adds.
“We need to bring attention to educate people on this,” Marshall said. “The fact is that Pictou County has one of the highest rates in the province because of intravenous drug use, of Hepatitis C and HIV because people are sharing needles and people need to be aware of it.”
What: AIDS Awareness Walk
Where: New Glasgow YMCA
When: Sunday, Oct. 2 – registration at 1 p.m., walk at 2 p.m., followed by barbecue at Studio R on the corner of East River Road and Granville Street.
Who: Everyone welcome
