The epidemiology of HIV and AIDS in Canada: current perspectives and future needs

There is little doubt the HIV epidemic is of enormous public health importance for Canadians. Currently, it is estimated that between one and two in 1,000 adult Canadians are infected with HIV. Compared to other industrialized countries, Canada is a country of intermediate incidence. Much effort has gone into developing and maintaining the AIDS surveillance system as well as carrying out HIV seroprevalence studies in selected populations. In spite of under-reporting of AIDS cases (estimated to be 12-25%), the available data provide a general picture of the HIV epidemic in Canada. Nevertheless, a number of questions remain unanswered, and we need more information to plan preventive interventions and provide services to persons who are already infected. In this article, we present a brief overview of the epidemiology of AIDS and HIV in Canada. We identify some disturbing trends in the epidemic and reiterate the need for more information to improve our preventive efforts and help set research priorities to help plan future studies.