By Angela Hill

HIV strategy funded by budget

Mar 31, 2011 | 11:35 AM

Funds for the HIV strategy announced in the Saskatchewan budget will largely be used to assemble a provincial team.

“It’s to get people on the ground, to get people working and there is funding for education for health care workers and training,” said Dr. Moira McKinnon, Saskatchewan’s chief medical health officer.

“There are additional funding to make those positions effective, so that they’ve got discrete funding for programs for workshops those things that are required.”

The provincial leadership team, based in Saskatoon at the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute, will oversee the implementation of Saskatchewan’s HIV Strategy.

The team consists of full-time and part time people — a clinical director, program director, pharmacist, medical health officer, administration assistant and a peer co-ordinator.

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The team will look at the standardization of clinical practices, what medications will be used and issues around adherence.

“There are province-wide issues, so we need that leadership at a provincial level,” McKinnon said.

The $2.5 million announced in the budget is on top of $2.5 million announced in May 2010. The funding is set to continue at this rate for the duration of the HIV strategy, which takes the province to 2014, McKinnon said.

The first announcement included funds to six health regions so they could hire HIV co-ordinators and outreach workers.

“It’s a big help … we’ve actually come a long way,” said Lynnda Berg, vice-president of primary and community care for the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region.

The region has made a consultant HIV outreach person a permanent position and they are in the process of hiring an HIV co-ordinator, Berg said.

They also received funding for an additional case manager for the methadone program.

The positions are already making a difference, said McKinnon.

“It’s a huge step forward and already we’ve had reports from the field, that the patients are coming in they feel more comfortable, the health care workers are interested, there has been lots of training programs,” she said.

More people seem to feel more comfortable with the health system, which is one of the aims of the health strategy, McKinnon said.

“So, hopefully less discrimination is happening.”

ahill@panow.com