Cutline: Top row (L-R) Dr. Sean B. Rourke, director of REACH Nexus at St. Michael’s Hospital, Nikki Williamson, Dr. Stuart Skinner and Lindsay Iron with Wellness Wheel in Saskatchewan, Dr. Ameeta Singh, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alberta. Bottom row (L-R): Dr. Zulma Rueda and Dr. Yoav Keynan.
Historic HIV, syphilis testing initiative launches in Canada
Amid soaring rates of HIV and syphilis in Canada – with Indigenous communities in the Prairies being hardest hit – a team of Indigenous leaders and HIV advocates, researchers, health-care workers and people with lived experiences, including HIV, have created the Ayaangwaamiziwin Centre.
The centre is a ground-breaking initiative to “test, treat and link to culturally safe care” for over 10,000 people at risk for HIV and/or syphilis in the Prairies and an additional 2,500+ people in Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories.
Named after an Ojibwe word for “carefulness and preparedness,” the Ayaangwaamiziwin Centre launches on March 5, 2025. Following an initial $4 million in funding secured in 2024 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Indigenous Services Canada and other foundations, the centre recently received an additional $3.75 million from CIHR to expand its intervention work to support northern communities.
Co-led by Dr. Sean B. Rourke, director of REACH Nexus at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital, the centre is a collaborative effort made up of several organizations working together to provide access to testing, preventative care, harm reduction and treatment for HIV and syphilis in underserved and remote communities across the regions.
“HIV and infectious syphilis are public health emergencies in Canada, sweeping across communities, particularly in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The more people we can reach to test, diagnose and treat with HIV and syphilis, the faster we can help end these health crises,” Rourke said. “This is a historic Canadian health partnership – involving the community, health-care system and public health sectors.”
Dr. Zulma Rueda, associate professor of medical microbiology and infectious diseases at the Max Rady College of Medicine and a Canada Research Chair in sexually transmitted infection – resistance and control, is a principal investigator on the initiative from Manitoba, along with Dr. Yoav Keynan, head of infectious diseases at the Max Rady College of Medicine. They participated from inception, application and development of the community partnerships along with REACH Nexus network.
Rueda said their team will coordinate the implementation of testing outside of traditional health-care sites and work with community-based organizations and health-care providers to develop opportunities for linkage to care and treatment.
“The Alltogether4IDEAS research team from the University of Manitoba is already partnering with people with lived experience, community-based organizations, Indigenous leaders and other Manitoba networks to ensure that the project contributes to narrowing gaps in STBBI [sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection] testing in Manitoba,” Rueda says. “Our team will also participate in the data collection, analysis, interpretation, translation of the results and dissemination to guide broader implementation.”
Underserved and marginalized communities – especially First Nations, Inuit and Métis – have faced a history of colonization, residential schools, racism, stigma, discrimination, overcrowding, food insecurity and other social determinants of health that have created significant systemic barriers (over decades) leading to progressive, profound and persistent health disparities.
At the heart of this initiative is the holistic and community-centred involving people with lived and living experiences. Through a “Two-Eyed Seeing” approach, teams in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan are working closely with Indigenous leaders, with Indigenous-led and non-Indigenous-led HIV, harm reduction and health agencies and affected communities.
Over the next five years, Ayaangwaamiziwin Centre will continue to bring on more frontline agencies, people with lived experiences and build community-driven partnerships in the Prairies and the northern territories. This new testing, care and prevention initiative is critical towards ending the HIV and syphilis epidemics in Canada, the group says.
“The centre, with partnerships across the Prairies, will continue to foster opportunities for additional collaborations, the development of projects to implement new low-barrier testing and prevention strategies, sharing experiences and lessons learned across the network will expand the toolkits available in Manitoba,” Keynan says. “The network provides opportunities for peers, community partners, students and faculty to participate and gain experience.”