New Health Canada data indicate that the number of patients diagnosed with AIDS in Canada had reached 16 236 by the end of December 1998. The total included 14 917 male adults, 1130 female adults and 187 children; the sex and/or age of 2 patients was unknown.
Females diagnosed with AIDS tended to be younger than males. More than one quarter (26%) of females were between 20 and 29 years old, compared with only 15% of men. In 72% of cases involving males, the men were between 30 and 49 years old; only 52% of females were in this age group.
Adult women accounted for 12.4% of positive HIV tests reported between 1985 and 1998. This number has increased over the years, and in 1998 it represented 21.6% of all positive adult HIV tests in cases in which the person's sex was known.
The proportion of positive HIV reports attributable to heterosexual sex has increased steadily, accounting for 16% of cases in 1998 compared with only 6.2% between 1985 and 1994. Drug users account for an increasingly larger portion of the total number of positive tests, but the number may have peaked at 33.5% in 1997; by 1998 the Figure hadfallen to 29%. Male homosexuals, who once accounted for 75% of all positive HIV tests (1985-1994), now are responsible for just 36.5% of all positive tests in Canada. Figure 1
For physicians, the best news is that the number of AIDS cases diagnosed in Canada declined to 279 in 1998, the lowest number since 1984. In the record year, 1993, 1751 cases were diagnosed. (By comparison, it is now estimated that 240 Zimbabweans die every day of AIDS-related causes.)
This column was written by Lynda Buske, Chief, Physician Resources Information Planning, CMA. Readers may send potential research topics to Patrick Sullivan ([email protected]; 613 731-8610 or 800 663-7336, x2126; fax 613 565-2382).