Overview
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s own data, more than $123 million dollars committed to HIV prevention and support initiatives in Canada since 2003 have not been delivered. Meanwhile — despite new and better tools to prevent HIV, such as PrEP — HIV cases have risen 26% since funding was frozen in 2008. For people living with or affected by HIV, programs and services are getting scaled back. Without adequate funding, community-based organizations that test, treat, prevent, and respond to HIV can’t provide the support that’s needed.
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.
The pandemic is not over, and Canada’s response to HIV is stuck in the past. Restore the missing millions.
Learn more:
Rights Within Reach: Strategic Plan 2022-2027
The HIV Legal Network promotes the human rights of people living with HIV or AIDS and other populations disproportionately affected by HIV and criminalization, in Canada and internationally. In 2021, we undertook a planning process that would shape the strategic goals and priorities for the organization’s next five years (2022-2027). To do this, we sought … Read more
Rights Within Reach: Strategic Plan 2022-2027, Executive Summary
In 2021, the HIV Legal Network undertook a planning process that would shape the strategic goals and priorities for the organization’s next five years (2022-2027). To do this, we sought the input of a broad range of stakeholders, from partner organizations to people living with and affected by HIV and criminalization, to staff. All identified … Read more
Written Submission for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the Upcoming Federal Budget, October 2022
The HIV Legal Network has submitted this brief to the federal government in advance of the new budget. It highlights the need to increase HIV-specific funding, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
Powerful Together: Annual Report 2021-2022
The path to human rights for all is in view with collaboration, collective advocacy, and community building. To view the 2021-2022 annual report, click here.
Respect, Protect, Fulfill: Supporting the HIV Legal Network
Respect. Protect. Fulfill. You can help challenge wrongs, advance rights, and transform lives. Denied basic healthcare. Criminalized and vilified for love. Unfairly targeted by police. These abuses, and more, are too often the experience of people living with HIV and of communities affected by HIV. At the HIV Legal Network, our mission has always been … Read more
HIV, Hepatitis C and Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections in Canada: Top Election 2021 Issues
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 … Read more
STATEMENT: SENATE MOTION CALLING ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE HIV FUNDING WELCOMED BY CIVIL SOCIETY
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 … Read more
NEWS RELEASE: CANADA AND THE HIV RESPONSE: TOP ISSUES FOR WORLD AIDS DAY 2020
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 … Read more
PRESS RELEASE: The Missing Millions, the Government of Canada and HIV
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.