Elder Gordon Keewatin with the PAGC gets his finger pricked by Tosin Adebayo of NITHA as part of national HIV Testing Day. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

HIV testing

Elders and officials play role in HIV testing campaign

Jun 27, 2019 | 1:45 PM

For Teena Dumais-Clarke, being tested publicly for HIV is about being a role model.

“It’s important for the community, they need to do this for their family and for their own health,” the health director with the northern community of Southend said as she took the test at the offices of the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority (NITHA) in Prince Albert Thursday morning.

Today is the second annual national HIV Testing Day.

“In a way it’s like diabetes, some people live with it and don’t know they have it. It’s the same with HIV, but with early detection it can be treated, and you can have better health and a better life,” she said.

Teena Dumais-Clarke, a health official in Southend has her HIV test done.(Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

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Estimates suggest many people who are HIV positive in Saskatchewan are unaware they have the virus and with a recent spike in cases reported in the Battlefords, this highlights the need to take the simple pin-prick test.

“Every year we see different surveys done on our people and across Canada, and the stats don’t look good,” Elder Gordon Keewatin, a cultural support worker with the PAGC health department said as he sat down for his test. “We don’t know how many people are affected or not, but if we are, all the better to know.”

Flora Fiddler, a health official with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council gets her test performed by James Paid of NITHA. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

According to NITHA in 2018 there were nine people in their area diagnosed, a 25 per cent decrease from 2017. However, in the Battlefords, 15 new HIV cases were reported during the first five months of this year, much higher than the normal average.

“We all have a responsibility to ourselves and to our families to make sure that we’re doing the best we can with our health and HIV is no different,” Flora Fiddler a heath director with Meadow Lake Tribal Council said as she went through the short 45-second process. “The test is not scary or intimidating, it’s quick and confidential. HIV is not racist, it’s right across the country and international, [but] it’s not as scary as it was 40 years ago. Today we have many medications, treatments and supports that can help an individual.”

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow