A new report says although HIV and Hepatitis C rates are on the decline in Saskatoon, they are still well above the national average.
The Saskatoon Health Region’s Better Health for All report says local HIV rates are roughly twice the national average and Hepatitis C rates are 50 per cent higher.
The health region’s deputy medical health officer Julie Kryzanowski says Aboriginal people tend to be the most vulnerable to all sexually transmitted infections.
“Especially for our blood borne infections, HIV and Hepatitis C, we do see the majority of these cases in our clients who are Aboriginal – First Nations or Métis,” she says.
The report also says both gonorrhea and syphilis rates are on the rise in Saskatoon while Chlamydia rates have remained stable.
Kryzanowski says these particular infections tend be transmitted within a younger demographic.
“The greatest risk factors for new infections there are multiple sexual partners, especially with a history that is unknown, and unprotected sex.”
She says high injection drug use numbers in the health region are one of the reasons HIV and Hepatitis C rates have remained higher than the national average.