Calling it a “game-changing moment,” health experts hope free medication will help reverse the trend of rising HIV cases in Manitoba.
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced Thursday the province would remove barriers to access HIV/AIDS medicine starting Monday.
That includes free PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis, a daily antiretroviral medication that reduce the risk of HIV infection), PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis, antiretroviral medicine taken after being potentially exposed to HIV), and ART (antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV).
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Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara announced Thursday the province would remove barriers to access HIV/AIDS medicine starting Monday.
“These medications will be available at no cost to individuals who do not currently have 100 per cent coverage under another federal or provincial plan, including removing the pharmacare deductible for these medications,” the health minister said in the Manitoba legislature Thursday.
Community health advocates say the move could stop Manitoba’s soaring HIV rate in its tracks.
“Between 2018 and 2021 we were seeing quite a significant increase in the rates of HIV” — from around 100 new diagnoses a year to between 200 and 250 in 2022, Mike Payne of the Manitoba HIV Program and executive director of Nine Circles Community Health Centre, said Friday.
Things have not gotten better. In 2023, 388 Manitobans were diagnosed with HIV — “the highest number we’ve ever seen,” said Payne.
As of May 28, 155 Manitobans have been newly diagnosed.
“We’re on a pathway again to see the highest incidence that we’ve ever seen,” said Payne. “We have some modelling that was done through the University of Manitoba that has told us if we don’t take action, we would anticipate to see 486 new diagnoses in 2024,” with 593 new cases in 2025 and 724 in 2026.
Payne said real action is needed to reverse those trends.
“The reality is the medications are expensive … We see a lot of folks living with HIV who are deferring going onto treatment because of the affordability. In a province where we are in a really serious HIV outbreak, we need to be doing everything we can to reduce barriers for people to access treatment. (Free medicine) will absolutely do that.”
Without coverage, PrEP costs up to $300 per month. The pill reduces the risk of contracting HIV by 99 per cent. Antiretroviral medication to treat HIV is even more expensive. Each have been subject to pharmacare deductibles in Manitoba. In some provinces, including Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan, PrEP is already available at no cost to eligible patients.
For people living with HIV on social assistance, they may be able to return to work without fear of having to give up HIV treatment coverage, Payne said. Folks in a cycle of substance use may consider using PrEP if the financial barrier is removed, he said. “Having this free opens up the door to a conversation for folks who may be at risk.”
Providing the treatment is expected to cost the province an added $2.2 million a year, a government spokesperson said Friday.
A 2011 Canadian AIDS Society study found the net value of the economic loss attributed to those recently infected with HIV was $4,031,500,000, or $1.3 million per person.
Manitoba is also removing the requirement for health-care providers to register in order to prescribe PrEP.
“Now, your primary care provider can prescribe PrEP as part of routine care,” Asagwara said.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
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