SIDA & VIH
Canada Statistics by Year and Age
Positive HIV tests and AIDS diagnoses by year
| Year | AIDS diagnoses | Positive HIV test reports | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult male | Adult female | Total, all ages | Adult male | Adult female | Total, all ages | |
| Until end 1997† | 15,448 | 1,221 | 16,669 | 31,958 | 4,323 | 36,281 |
| 1998 | 543 | 100 | 643 | 1,691 | 467 | 2,158 |
| 1999 | 460 | 87 | 547 | 1,592 | 511 | 2,103 |
| 2000 | 437 | 57 | 494 | 1,536 | 485 | 2,021 |
| 2001 | 347 | 71 | 418 | 1,605 | 540 | 2,145 |
| 2002 | 343 | 63 | 406 | 1,792 | 615 | 2,407 |
| 2003 | 299 | 78 | 377 | 1,819 | 622 | 2,441 |
| 2004 | 256 | 61 | 317 | 1,827 | 649 | 2,476 |
| 2005 | 266 | 75 | 341 | 1,823 | 621 | 2,444 |
| 2006 | 228 | 71 | 299 | 1,803 | 699 | 2,502 |
| 2007 | 190 | 45 | 235 | 1,782 | 592 |
2,374 |
| Total | 18,817 | 1,929 | 20,746 | 49,228 | 10,124 | 59,372 |
† AIDS reporting began in 1979; HIV reporting began in 1985; annual data are not available for positive HIV test reports prior to 1995 for all jurisdictions.
Trends in HIV diagnoses
The annual number of reported positive HIV test results increased between 2000 and 2004, following a steady decline since 1995. This rise may be partly due to changes in immigration policies that were introduced in 2002. HIV tests are now part of the routine assessment for immigrants and most provinces and territories include these results in their reports.
Women have accounted for around a quarter of adult HIV diagnoses reported with known gender in each year since 2000. This proportion has more than doubled from 12% in the period 1985-97.
When interpreting HIV test reports, it is important to note that there may be a "reporting delay" between the time when a person tests positive for HIV and the time when the report is received by the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control (CIDPC). The statistics for recent years are likely to rise as more reports are received. Even if adjustment is made for reporting delays, the statistics still include only those people who have come forward to be tested for HIV. Willingness to be tested may vary between different groups of people.
Trends in AIDS diagnoses
Since the beginning of the epidemic in the early 1980s, there have been 20,993 AIDS diagnoses reported to CIDPC. The number of annual diagnoses peaked at 1,827 in 1993 and has since declined to fewer than 300. A major factor in the initial, dramatic decrease in cases was the delayed or prevented onset of AIDS due to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Such treatment has become widespread since 1996.
After steep falls between 1995 and 1997, a more gradual decline in the number of diagnoses continued until 2000. In the analysis of recent years, allowance should be made for delays in reporting, and for the fact that Quebec has not reported AIDS data since June 2003.
Females accounted for 7% of AIDS cases reported with known gender in the period 1979-94; in 2007 that proportion was around 20%.
AIDS cases by ethnic status and year of diagnosis
| Ethnic status | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Total* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aboriginal | 41 | 38 | 35 | 27 | 29 | 15 | 636 |
| South Asian/ West Asian/Arab |
8 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 168 |
| Asian | 11 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 281 |
| Black | 50 | 44 | 38 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 1,548 |
| Latin American | 11 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 276 |
| White | 194 | 158 | 130 | 86 | 72 | 71 | 13,477 |
| Other | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 112 |
| Not reported | 89 | 106 | 99 | 211 | 131 | 131 | 4,495 |
| Total | 409 | 380 | 320 | 347 | 303 | 238 | 20,993 |
*Total reported AIDS diagnoses since 1980
The proportion of AIDS cases with known ethnicity reported among white people declined from 91% in 1988 to 58% in 2007. Over the same period, there were steep increases in the proportions attributed to aboriginal and black people. These two groups are now highly overrepresented.
In the 2001 census, aboriginal and black people accounted for 3.3% and 2.2% of Canada's population respectively. In the same year, these groups respectively reported 6.4% and 15.2% of AIDS cases with known ethnicity. In 2007, these proportions were 15.0% for aboriginal people and 5.4% for black people. However it should be noted that in many cases ethnicity is not reported. In 2007 ethnic status was not provided in 55% of AIDS cases reported.
The relative size of exposure categories varies significantly between ethnic groups. Injecting drug use is a major route of transmission of infection in aboriginal communities. Among black Canadians, the vast majority of infections are probably acquired through heterosexual contact. Sex between men accounted for the majority of AIDS cases in white Canadians. In females there was a fairly even split in positive test reports in white and aboriginal women at around 40% with black women only accounting for 15 % of new infections.
Positive HIV tests and AIDS diagnoses by age group, until end of 2007
| Age group | AIDS diagnoses | Positive HIV test reports | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Total* | Male | Female | Total* | |
| Under 15 | 128 | 114 | 242 | 296 | 207 | 517 |
| 15-19 | 55 | 18 | 73 | 456 | 383 | 908 |
| 20-24 | 504 | 134 | 638 | 11,050 | 3,306 | 15,379 |
| 25-29 | 2,266 | 340 | 2,606 | |||
| 30-34 | 4,051 | 446 | 4,498 | 19,260 | 3,738 | 24,336 |
| 35-39 | 4,159 | 337 | 4,497 | |||
| 40-44 | 3,313 | 258 | 3,571 | 11,082 | 1,639 | 13,347 |
| 45-49 | 2,137 | 143 | 2,280 | |||
| 50-54 | 1,122 | 74 | 1,195 | 4,657 | 731 | 5,640 |
| 55-59 | 627 | 73 | 702 | |||
| 60 or older | 583 | 106 | 689 | |||
| Total | 18,947 | 2,043 | 20,993 | 51,544 | 10,514 | 64,800 |
* Includes reports for which gender was not reported or was reported as transgender
In recent years the most notable trend has been the increase in diagnoses among young women. Prior to 1996, females comprised 14% of HIV diagnoses in the age group 15-29, whereas in 2007 this proportion was 36%. There are also increases in the number of HIV positive tests and AIDS diagnoses among older Canadians, now accounting for 15% of the total.
