HIV infection rates in Saskatchewan First Nations communities are roughly twice the provincial average and a health conference taking place in Saskatoon this week wants to bring those numbers down.

According to Health Canada statistics for 2018, HIV infection rates in Saskatchewan First Nations were roughly 32.1 per 100,000 people while they were roughly half that for the provincial population.

The Know Your Status Forum is being hosted by the Big River First Nation, Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation and Indigenous Services Canada.

The conference is looking at ways to combat sexually transmitted diseases like HIV and Hep C.

Dr. Ibrahim Khan is the regional medical health officer with the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Indigenous Services Canada.

He said one of the biggest challenges is getting people to come forward and get tested.

“There is still a lot of stigma, so not everybody in every community is coming forward,” he said. “So, we would like that stigma to be gone and we need to fight stigma with the help of the communities. I cannot fight stigma myself.”

Big River First Nation Chief Jack Rayne said his community is working hard at the local level to make people feel comfortable coming forward to get tested and then supporting them if they are infected.

“Basically understanding your people, connecting with your people, giving them that voice,” he said. “Letting them know that that they’re not alone in this. The biggest thing is support, support, support. And at the end we need to educate, educate our people in this and what’s going on.”

Khan noted things are in improving and that 6,500 people were tested for HIV in Saskatchewan First Nations communities in 2018.

He also said with new advances in drug therapy, HIV and Hep C infections are now largely controllable.

The forum concludes on Thursday.

(PHOTO: Dr. Ibrahim Khan, left, and Big River First Nation Chief Jack Rayne, right, at the Know Your Status Forum in Saskatoon. Photo by Fraser Needham.)