2024-07-17 20:53:13
(Montreal) The Montreal-based HIV/AIDS Research Network is expanding its work in response to a sharp rise in the incidence of sexually transmitted infections such as syphilis.
Posted at 4:53 PM
Dr. Marina Klein of McGill University Health Center said syphilis rates have increased by more than 100 per cent across Canada in recent years. HIV diagnoses increased by nearly 25% between 2021 and 2022.
The reasons for these increases are complex, Klein said. These include COVID-19-related social disruptions, migration patterns, barriers to accessing health care, and changes in the infection itself.
She announced that the Canadian HIV/AIDS Testing Network, created in 1990 to combat the infectious disease, would expand its scope, which currently includes all sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI), in an effort to find new treatments.
Dr. Klein, who leads the network, said the group will conduct nationwide clinical trials for diseases such as syphilis and hepatitis B, formerly known as “monkeypox.”
The network also hopes to examine prevention and treatment approaches for groups that experience stigma or lack access to ongoing care, including those living in Aboriginal communities, the researchers said.
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