One quarter of
HIV-positive Canadians are unaware of infection

In a Canadian report that mirrors data already reported in the United States, about one quarter of Canada's 58,000 HIV-positive residents are unaware of being infected, the Edmonton Journal reports. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention similarly reports that about one quarter of the estimated 1.1 million HIV-positive Americans are unaware they've been infected. Canada's public-health agency estimates that 27% of HIV-positive Canadians are unaware of their infection.

The total number of HIV-positive people in Canada rose about 16% from 2002 to 2005, but health officials say this is because fewer HIV-positive people are dying from the disease, not because infection rates are rising. Slightly more than half of the nation's HIV cases are gay men, according to the nation's Public Health Agency. Gay men continue to account for about 45% of new infections in the country, according to the agency. (The Advocate)