As red scarves add a dash of colour against the grey skies in downtown Barrie and Midland, Gilbert Centre executive director Gerry Croteau is hoping they add warmth and understanding.
Formerly the AIDS Committee of Simcoe County, the Gilbert Centre is working with Grandmothers and Grandmothers from the Stephen Lewis Foundation, as well as inmates at the Central North Correctional Centre to share the hand-knitted red scarves, but to raise awareness of the ongoing stigma those with AIDS and with HIV continue to face each day.
“The scarves went up Wednesday morning at 9:30. I hope they all get taken by the end of the day,” said Croteau, adding in Barrie, 212 scarves were wrapped around light posts along Collier, Dunlop and Mulcaster streets. Another 186 were tied around poles in downtown Midland.
The scarves come with a tag that highlights HIV/AIDS Awareness Week, which starts Nov. 24 and ends Dec. 1, which is World AIDS Awareness Day.
“It’s to get people talking. People are still being stigmatised and discriminated against. It can be tough to get a job or housing (when you have AIDS or test positive for HIV).
“Because of their HIV status and the meds are so hard on them, they can’t work so they go on disability.”
Croteau noted that medically, treatment has advanced considerably, but understanding and inclusion in the community remain.
AIDS and HIV affect men and women of all ages, but especially those between 30 and 50, a group that is more sexually active, he explained.
“In Simcoe County, we had 14 HIV infections in 2015, and over the last 15 years in Simcoe County alone, there has been three to 23 infections each year.”
Almost half – 47 per cent – of the new infections in Canada each year are among gay men. That means 53 per cent of diagnoses occur in the heterosexual community, including women. Some contract the disease as a result of intravenous drug use, he added.
Statistically, 89 per cent of those affected are men, 19 per cent women.
“In the men, it’s usually between ages 29 and 55. There are some cases over 55 and some under 29, but it’s that 20-year span where there are the highest rates among men,” said Croteau.
Women in that same age group are also affected, as some gay men, who have not come out of the closet, take it home to their wives, he noted.
Statistics show that 25 per cent of people living with HIV do not even know their diagnosis and Croteau encourages testing – which is confidential – at clinics run by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit. In Barrie, it’s located at 80 Bradford St., suite 403. An anonymous rapid, drop-in testing clinic occurs Wednesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Drop-in clinics also occur on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.; other days are by appointment.
To book an appointment, call 705-721-7520
“Get tested,” advised Croteau.
And take a scarf for yourself or for someone you know who needs it to fight off the chill.
