The federal health minister has announced more than $9.5 million in funding in Atlantic Canada for projects benefitting HIV, Hepatitis C, and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections.
The funds are being provided to 12 projects through the HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund and the Harm Reduction Fund.
Project: Seeing Beyond the Stigma
Locations: Moncton, New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick; Saint John, New Brunswick
Recipients: Ensemble Services Greater-Grand Moncton Inc. ($444,595); AIDS New Brunswick /SIDA Nouveau-Brunswick Inc. ($445,135); Avenue B Harm Reduction Inc. ($445,130)
Funding: $1,334,860 total
Project: HIV/HCV/STBBIs in NS: Bluenoser Prevention & Support
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Recipient: AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia
Funding: $1,213,200
Project: Getting to Zero – Phase 2
Location: St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
Recipient: AIDS Committee of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc.
Funding: $1,150,000
Project: Supporting STBBI Prevention, Testing, and Treatment in Key Populations in PEI
Location: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Recipient: Peers Alliance Inc.
Funding: $950,000
Project: Sexual Health Information Exchange Labrador District (SHIELD) Project
Location: Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
Recipient: Labrador Friendship Centre
Funding: $899,375
Project: Seeing it Our Way 2.0; Peer Led Stigma Free Intervention
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Recipient: Healing Our Nations-the Atlantic HIV/AIDS Network
Funding: $705,000
Project: STBBI Prevention Education and Community Care Planning
Location: Moncton, New Brunswick
Recipient: John Howard Society of Southeastern New Brunswick Inc.
Funding: $400,014
Project: HIV/Hep C Prevention through Urban and Rural Outreach
Location: Moncton, New Brunswick
Recipient: John Howard Society of Southeastern New Brunswick Inc.
Funding: $950,000
Project: Atlantic Peers Promote Outreach and Cultural Safety for Health (APPROACH)
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Recipient: Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society
Funding: $852,837
Project: Connect
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Recipient: Hepatitis Outreach Society of Nova Scotia
Funding: $385,174
Project: Peers Leading the Way to Testing and Treatment
Location: Sydney, Nova Scotia
Recipient: The Ally Centre of Cape Breton
Funding: $374,700
Project: Stronger Together – A Peer Project
Location: Saint John, New Brunswick
Recipient: Avenue B Harm Reduction Inc
Funding: $374,225
“The contributions of community-based organizations are central to improving the health of people in Canada who have HIV and promoting culturally safe community-led models to increase testing in remote, rural, and northern settings,” says Health Minister Mark Holland. “The funding announced today supports projects that will engage with people living with HIV, hepatitis C, and other STBBI, as well as those at risk of infection, to help communities meet their prevention, testing, treatment, and support needs.”
He adds that STBBI are preventable, treatable, and in many cases curable, but these infections remain a significant public health concern in Canada, especially among Indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+, and other communities.
