HIV activists are marking World AIDS Day by urging Ottawa to help stop a global backslide in stopping infections and combatting stigma.
The World Health Organization has reported a slowing in the decline of new HIV cases, ever since countries focused their limited health care systems on COVID-19.
There is a rising proportion of cases among women and people who inject drugs in Canada, and Indigenous people accounted for nearly one-fifth of new infections in 2020.
Advocates point out that Canada still criminalizes people for not telling sexual partners that they have HIV, even when prescription drugs make it impossible to transmit the virus.
They argue that the risk of prosecution prevents people from accessing testing and treatment.
AIDS has killed roughly 40 million people, including 650,000 in 2021.