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CMAJ Today!

Number of AIDS deaths declining rapidly

Date: Nov. 29, 1999
Time: 2:46 pm

Is AIDS on the way out as a major public health concern in Canada? Data from Health Canada's Division of HIV/AIDS Surveillance indicate that the number of AIDS-related deaths fell to less than 20% of the 1995 peak last year and is dropping even more rapidly this year. Only 232 AIDS-related deaths were reported last year, or just 16% of the 1995 total of 1410 deaths; the number fell to a minuscule 42 deaths during the first 6 months of 1999.

There is other good news as well in the division's latest surveillance report on HIV and AIDS in Canada. The number of HIV-positive test results reported in 1998 fell by 9% from a year earlier, and by 23% from 1995. By June 30, 1999, 44,427 reports of positive HIV tests had been received in Canada since 1985.

Canada's current rate for AIDS cases stands at 54.81 per 100,000 people, compared with an American rate of 258.12. The highest recorded rate is in the Bahamas (1037.90). The rate may actually be higher elsewhere, however, because under-reporting is a problem in many countries.

-- Patrick Sullivan, eCMAJ Today

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