HIV/AIDS Communiqué - Volume 3 Number 1 - Spring 2004

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Update on National HIV/AIDS Awareness

Over the past year, the National Steering Committee on HIV/AIDS has continued its work on the development of a National HIV/AIDS Awareness Strategy. The Strategy includes components of broad-based social marketing, enhanced communications activities - including web communication for the general public, and funding for community-based social marketing campaigns. The following is a brief update on various activities that Health Canada has initiated under the Awareness Strategy during 2003-04:

HIV/AIDS - An Attitudinal Survey

Health Canada contracted EKOS Research Associations Inc. to conduct an HIV/AIDS awareness survey, administered via telephone to more than 2,000 Canadians. The survey tested Canadians' knowledge, tolerance levels, risk perception and behaviour towards HIV/AIDS. The survey results indicate that Canadians are fairly knowledgeable about how HIV is transmitted, and are able to identify unsafe sexual practices and needle sharing as key modes of transmission. Although the fatal nature of HIV/AIDS is not well understood, the survey indicates that nearly one in five Canadians believe that HIV/AIDS can be cured if treated early and four in 10 Canadians do not know that it is fatal.

The report and executive summary are available in French and English at www.aidsida.com. For more information on the survey, contact Shannon Brunton Stephens, Public Affairs Officer, at Shannon_Brunton_Stephens@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Review of Canadian HIV/AIDS Campaigns carried out between 2000 and 2002

This report was recently prepared for Health Canada by social marketing consultant, Francois Legarde. The report documents best practices and lessons learned from a range of national, provincial and local government and non-governmental campaigns. The recommendations provide valuable direction for the development of social marketing campaigns all levels.

The report is available in French and English at www.aidsida.com.

Health Canada HIV/AIDS Website

Work has begun on revamping Health Canada HIV/AIDS website. Health Canada Online, a Health Canada-wide portal, will provide one website address to Canadians to access Health Canada information on various health topics. The HIV/AIDS section of the website will be easier to navigate, content areas will be better linked and information on the site will be updated more frequently.

National HIV/AIDS Community-Based Social Marketing Fund (2003-2006)

The goal of the National HIV/AIDS Community-Based Social Marketing Fund is to support the development and implementation of national community-based social marketing campaigns. The campaigns are intended to increase awareness and reduce the negative impact of HIV/AIDS for target audiences identified by the National Steering Committee on HIV/AIDS Awareness. A solicitation process for the Fund was completed in 2003 and two projects for 2003-2006 are being funded.

Information on the projects that have been funded for 2003-2006.

For more information on the developed of the National HIV/AIDS Awareness Strategy, please contact Patti Murphy, Program Consultant, at patti_murphy@hc-sac.gc.ca.

Update: Community-Based Research Program Transfer

The year 2004 will undoubtedly bring about some interesting changes and offer the HIV/AIDS movement across Canada many new challenges, among which is the transfer of the Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS' Community-Based Research (CBR) program from Health Canada to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

The CBR program was initiated with the renewal of the Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS (CSHA) in 1998. The community-based HIV/AIDS movement, researchers and an Advisory Reference Group drawn from these stakeholders were instrumental in the design of the Program. Further consultations with key Aboriginal stakeholders led to the creation of the Aboriginal stream of the CBR program. With the development of the Program, a set of principles of community-based research were defined and adopted. These principles are the basis on which the Program now exists and continues to evolve.

The CBR program is currently administered on an interim basis by Health Canada until a process to relocate the program within its new administrative home is completed. A Letter of Agreement between Health Canada and the CIHR regarding the transfer of funds and administrative responsibility for the CBR program to the CIHR is expected to be in place and the transfer in effect by March 31, 2004.

Health Canada and the CIHR are determined to maintain the integrity of the Program and to make it work. The Letter of Agreement takes into account the concerns expressed by the HIV/AIDS community organizations during the consultations leading to the transfer. There will be no interruption of activities in current CBR projects funded by Health Canada and extending beyond March 31, 2004.

The CBR program will continue to be funded through the CSHA. The budget distribution between the Aboriginal and General streams and the research and capacity building components will remain unchanged. However, some administrative changes will necessarily occur. Health Canada and CIHR operate with different Terms and Conditions set by the Treasury Board of Canada. As a result, funding under the CIHR will be in the form of grants rather than contributions; eligible project expenses will differ slightly; timelines for RFPs/RFAs will be realigned with those of the CIHR and the application process will be amended.

The CBR program will also receive a minor "overhaul" before it leaves Health Canada. Some of the changes are the result of lessons learned in the five years of the program's existence. For example, eligibility criteria for CBR funding will be tweaked - that is:

• Community organizations that do not possess the capacity to manage the financial and administrative responsibilities of a CBR project will not be given such responsibilities; instead these organizations will be supported through capacity building initiatives such as Research Technical Assistants to strengthen their CBR capacities and eventually, their ability to manage CBR projects; and
• Research and academic institutions will be required to demonstrate clearly their understanding of the principles of CBR as well as evidence on how they will apply them before their proposals can be recommended for funding - any slippage in this aspect could be cause for termination of a project. Annual funding for the program will remain limited and its impact in the communities must be maximized.

The transfer of the CBR program to CIHR does present challenges. However, the CIHR have opened their door and offered the opportunity to meet those challenges. The support of the HIV/AIDS community organizations will be essential if the CBR program is to continue evolving successfully.

Second International Policy Dialogue on HIV/AIDS

The 2nd International Policy Dialogue on HIV/AIDS, held in Warsaw, Poland, November 12-14, 2003, focussed on two issues: HIV/AIDS and injection drug use and AIDS complacency. The policy dialogue was hosted by the Polish Government and co-sponsored by UNAIDS, Health Canada, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Open Society Institute (OSI).

The Policy Dialogue was unique in that it brought together national HIV/AIDS and drug policy makers from countries around the world to further the debate on the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and injection drug use. Through the dialogue process these two groups found areas of common ground and drafted a policy guidance statement on reducing the risks, harms and costs of injection drug use and HIV/AIDS. The policy guidance statement became known as "The Warsaw Declaration: A Framework and Guide for Action on HIV/AIDS and Injecting Drug Use" and provides a framework for mounting an effective response to slow and eventually stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic among injection drug users worldwide.

The Policy Dialogue also included a second theme - the question of "AIDS Complacency". Participants identified a number of areas where further research should be conducted in order to gain a deeper understanding of the existing complacency around AIDS, and to develop strategies for addressing it.

The Declaration is available at: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/datapcb/iad/wnew-e.htm .

ACAP - Atlantic Region

Highlighting the Regional Role in the CSHA: Atlantic Region

The seven regional offices of Health Canada play an important role in the CSHA. In addition to the important work related to supporting community based organizations and projects through the AIDS Community Action Program (ACAP), regional Health Canada staff work to enhance partnerships and increase knowledge to prevent HIV/AIDS and to improve conditions for persons living with HIV and persons affected by or at-risk for HIV. This article provides an overview of the major activities in which Atlantic Region staff are involved.

ACAP: Support to Community-Based Organizations
In the Atlantic Region (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island), there are seven community-based AIDS organizations which receive operational funding through ACAP. These organizations are committed to facilitating community based responses to the issues of HIV/AIDS. Operational funding from Health Canada provides important financial support to these organizations in a region of Canada where there are limited sources of funding for HIV/AIDS prevention work available from other sources.

ACAP also provides funding for a variety of time-limited projects. The projects are usually 12 - 24 months in duration and focus on vulnerable populations and/or key aspects of the changing epidemic. For example, several of the projects currently being funded in Atlantic Region are directed at engaging and better understanding the needs of injection drug users , including those who live in rural communities. Other projects are working to increase awareness among youth, parents and the broad community about healthy sexuality and harm reduction, and to involve a broad range of stakeholders in developing action plans for change. One project is developing a collaborative response to HIV/AIDS in northern New Brunswick Francophone communities by increasing dialogue and partnerships among service providers and other stakeholders.

Partnerships and Knowledge Development
In the last several years, the Atlantic Regional office of Health Canada has focussed most of its partnership and knowledge development work related to HIV/AIDS on harm reduction and injection drug use. Injection drug use (IDU) is a growing cause of HIV infection, both in urban and rural areas of Atlantic Canada. In 2000, Health Canada released a report, "A Profile of Injection Drug Use in Atlantic Canada," which assisted in raising awareness of this issue in the region. A variety of provincial and federal government partners from the four provinces met in 2003 to discuss injection drug use. One of the results of that meeting was the creation an e-mail stakeholder list to enhance communication and linkages. Working with provincial partners and community stakeholders, regional Health Canada staff are currently examining the ways that governments and community can further collaborate to enhance harm reduction across the region. Initial activities may include hosting an Atlantic Harm Reduction Conference to enhance awareness, knowledge and networking among stakeholders.

For further information on the work of Health Canada, Atlantic Region, please contact Robin MacArthur, Program Consultant at (902) 426-2211 or robin_macarthur@hc-sc.gc.ca.

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