HIV Funding
The Public Health Agency of Canada’s own data confirm that in the years since the Federal Initiative was launched, more than $123 million dollars in funds committed to the federal HIV strategy has been lost. Meanwhile, there have been thousands of new HIV infections, services and programs have been inadequate or even discontinued, research opportunities and needs have gone unaddressed, and community organizations whose engagement is vital to an effective response have struggled or shut down.
The federal government must commit to restore the millions of dollars in funding that have been frozen, diverted, or simply allowed to lapse unspent in Canada’s response to HIV over more than a decade. We must fund the response to HIV at $100 million annually, the level recommended by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health in 2019.
HIV is not over. Restore the missing millions.
Joint press release: HIV, Hepatitis C and Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections in Canada: Top Election 2021 Issues Health and human rights groups identify priorities for federal policymakers as people in Canada head to the polls Tuesday, September 14, 2021 – More than 60,000 people are currently living with HIV in Canada, approximately 13% of […]
Seizing the moment to push for concrete and lasting change.
Funding the Fight: Supporting and Sustaining the Federal Response to HIV and AIDS in Canada Pre-budget Consultations 2021 Submission by the HIV Legal Network February 19, 2021 The current COVID-19 pandemic illustrates starkly, yet again, the critical importance of both investing in public health and of respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights in order to […]
STATEMENT: SENATE MOTION CALLING ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE HIV FUNDING WELCOMED BY CIVIL SOCIETY The following can be attributed to Richard Elliott, Executive Director, HIV Legal Network. December 1, 2020 – Ottawa – For far too long, year-over-year, the HIV response in Canada has been stalled, with funding flat-lined. More than $123 million […]
CANADA AND THE HIV RESPONSE: TOP ISSUES FOR WORLD AIDS DAY 2020 Human rights, federal funding, opioid overdose crisis top priorities this year November 27, 2020 — Tuesday, December 1st, is World AIDS Day. Given our current context, the dangers of underfunding the response to public health crises are all too evident. Every […]
From the launch of the Federal Initiative in 2004–05 through the end of the 2017–18 fiscal year, more than $123 million in total has been diverted or withheld from committed HIV funding. Services and organizations have either closed or have discontinued some programs, despite the clear need. Community organizations across the country have called for an adequately funded federal HIV […]
By the Government of Canada: “The launch of the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada signals a renewed and strengthened federal role in the Canadian response to HIV/AIDS.The Federal Initiative – a partnership of the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Correctional Service Canada – will work toward a […]
Guided by the past and working toward the future as we challenge wrongs, advance rights, and transform lives.
As community organizations are closing, the federal government presides over the continued steady erosion of federal HIV funding, with $104 million in funds lost from the response.
Note: this brief was originally published in 2018 and has been updated with recent developments in 2020. In recent years, the Government of Canada has renewed a commitment to ongoing dialogue and constructive engagement with civil society in the response to HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs). In […]
An open letter, sent on December 20, 2016 to Prime Minister Trudeau, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and then Health Minister Jane Philpott to draw attention to a serious, ongoing challenge to the HIV response in Canada. Over the last decade, there has been a very substantial loss of federal funds that were to have been […]
This is the fourth in a series of blog posts being published daily by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network ahead of Election Day on October 19, 2015. Recently, we sent a questionnaire to the five major federal parties, asking their position on key questions related to HIV and human rights. Four out of five parties […]
“At the Gleneagles Summit in July 2005, G8 leaders promised to develop and implement a package for HIV prevention, treatment and care, with the aim of as close as possible to universal access to treatment for all those who need it by 2010. Canada was among the countries that reaffirmed a commitment to this target […]
