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August 14, 2006
Media Conference at World AIDS Conference on Canada’s First Nations HIV/AIDS EpidemicAssembly of First Nations Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse, chair of the AFN Chiefs Committee on Health, will speak at a media conference, hosted by the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN), Tuesday, August 15 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Regional Chief Toulouse will call on the federal government to immediately provide adequate funding to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping First Nations communities as part of a comprehensive First Nations public health system. “Every day, at least one First Nations person learns he or she is HIV positive. Every day, hundreds of First Nations men, women and children are suffering, and dying, from a disease that is entirely preventable,” said Regional Chief Toulouse. “For years now, the AFN has been telling the government that we need action as part of a comprehensive First Nations public health framework.” “HIV/AIDS has reached epidemic proportions largely due to the poverty, violence and despair that many First Nations people face on a daily basis,” said National Chief Phil Fontaine. “We thought we had finally made some progress with the $5.1 billion commitment to close the gap in First Nations poverty achieved at the First Ministers Meeting last November. Instead, First Nations are facing over $2 billion in health funding shortfalls over the next five years.” Regional strategies specific to First Nations living both in their communities and migrating to urban centers are urgently needed. First Nations women and children are especially at risk. Recommendations in the 2001 AFN Action Plan on HIV/AIDS, and, more recently, in the Aboriginal Strategy on HIV/AIDS in Canada, must be considered to address the three times higher rates of infection and morbidity among First Nations and other Aboriginal peoples. “For the sake of our children, and for future generations, we must do everything possible to ensure that First Nations are given the opportunity to grow up in happy, healthy communities where HIV infection is not a likely threat,” said Regional Chief Toulouse. Event: Media Conference on Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Epidemic
Contacts: Bryan Hendry, AFN Health and Social Communications Officer Don Kelly, AFN Communications Director Ian McLeod, AFN Bilingual Communications Officer |
