CBC Manitoba: Swan Valley’s spike in HIV cases triggers outbreak-like response from Manitoba health officials
February 26, 2025 —
Dr. Julie Lajoie, an assistant professor in UM’s Max Rady College of Medicine, runs a lab studying infectious diseases, including HIV. She disagreed that harm-reduction approaches should be blamed in this case.
“If somebody takes drugs, they will take it with a clean or dirty needle. Offering a clean needle won’t increase the amount of people who are using drugs,” she said.
Safe needles are one part of the solution, she said, but so are distributing free condoms, making the preventive drug PrEP available for those at higher risk, and enhancing mental health supports.
“We forget everything else that is needed to fix the HIV problem that we have in the Prairies,” she said.
To read the entire article, please follow the link to CBC Manitoba.