Manitoba HIV diagnoses up 130%: HIV program – Winnipeg [Video]

New HIV diagnoses in Manitoba have increased 130 per cent in two years, according to data from the Manitoba HIV Program.

169 people were diagnosed and referred to the program in 2021. That number jumped to 256 in 2022, and 388 in 2023. In 2024 so far, the program is reporting over 300 diagnoses.

The number of diagnoses per capita in Manitoba is also about five times higher than the provincial average; Manitoba’s rate in 2023 was 26.4 diagnoses per 100,000 people, while new diagnoses sat at 4.7 per 100,000 people nationwide in 2022.

“We are unfortunately in the middle of a crisis in Manitoba,” said Manitoba HIV program director Kimberly Templeton.

The program, which received provincial funding last year on World AIDS Day, is connected with about 2,300 people in Manitoba living with HIV.

Templeton says Manitoba’s diagnoses also differ from the Canadian average in which populations they’re affecting.

“Whereas in most other parts of Canada we’re …