Reserve Responds To Rising HIV Infection Rates

Reserve Responds To Rising HIV Infection Rates

Tuesday, December 12, 2006 at 13:15

The Montreal Lake Cree Nation is hosting an HIV conference this week in an effort to combat the growing number of band members who are being infected.

The nurse in charge on the northern reserve, Wendy Quinn, says recent data has revealed a spike in new HIV and sexually-transmitted infections in the last year across the North, including Montreal Lake.

Quinn says young people need to hear how poor choices regarding sexual activity can potentially bring life-long consequences.

Saskatchewan Health says the Aboriginal population accounted for 65 per cent of new HIV cases in the province last year — the largest percentage of Aboriginal cases since 1998.

Aboriginals represented 80 per cent of all new female cases in 2005. Just over half of them involved women aged 25 and under.