Manitoba declares public health emergency due to high HIV rates
· Toronto Sun
Manitoba has declared a public health emergency over high HIV infection rates.
The province “continues to experience some of the highest rates of HIV in Canada,” Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, said at a news conference Thursday.
Visit bettingx.bond for more information.
In 2024, the province reported a rate of 19.5 cases per 100,000 people, which is about 3.5 times that of the national rate of 5.5, Roussin said.
“HIV rates in Manitoba have sharply risen over the last number of years,” he said, citing data collected from 2025 that showed 328 new HIV cases reported and 142 new cases recorded in 2021.
Roussin said the highest rates of infections are reported in the Northern and Prairie Mountain Health regions, though the highest number of cases is in Winnipeg, with Indigenous people disproportionately affected.
“This is significant; it’s concerning,” he said, adding the situation requires coordinated action between governments, communities and health systems.
Number of factors causing rise
Roussin said the rise in HIV cases is driven by injection drug use, homelessness, mental-health issues, as well as a rise in sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, and “various barriers in access to care.”
He said the province is collaborating with Indigenous leaders, community organizations and federal partners to address the conditions driving HIV transmission.
“We want to increase awareness, increase access to prevention, testing, treatment and harm reduction,” he said.
Roussin said the province has invested over $8 million in the past four years in funding for HIV treatment and prevention.
“This emergency is not about creating fear,” he said. “It’s about acknowledging the reality that individuals and communities are facing right now, and to address that with a level of urgency.”