"Free Condoms" says the sign on a basket at the front counter of the Prince George Council of Seniors Resource Centre at 721 Victoria Street.
Initially people chuckle about it but after the teasing is all done, Lola Dawn Fennell, manager of the council, gets serious.
"Did you know seniors is one of the fastest growing groups of newly diagnosed cases of HIV?" Fennell asked. "We're healthier, we're living longer, and we're re-discovering the joys of dating and all the stuff that goes with that. But seniors don't talk about sex openly. Back in the day condoms were only considered useful as a contraceptive. Now we offer free condoms for seniors here at the centre to keep them safe. I just heard it on the radio and they said it best - if you're sexually active, you're at risk for getting HIV/AIDS- can't say it more plainly than that."
According to the Pubic Health Agency in 2012, the majority of AIDS cases were among those aged 40 to 49 years at 34.9 per cent, followed by 30 to 39 years at 25.6 per cent, and 50 years and older came in third at 18.0 per cent.
"In 2008 or 2009 the figure for those above 50 years old was 10 per cent and now it's reported in 2012 at 18 percent, that's almost double," said Dr. Abu Hamour, Northern Health's infectious disease specialist.
Early detection is key to managing HIV/AIDS, which is considered chronic but no longer has to be a death sentence. HIV testing is becoming part of routine testing, not only in the Northern Health region but across Canada. The more normalized and available the testing, the more cases are detected.
"There is still a lot of work to be done there but at least now it's become widely accepted and recommended," said Hamour. In 2011, 25 per cent of Canadians who were living with HIV did not know they were infected, according to the Government of Canada website.
"It is those 25 per cent who are responsible for 75 per cent of new infections," said Hamour. "So with more acceptance of routine testing, we are diagnosing more people who don't fit into the traditional high-risk categories. The stereotypes that were previously associated with high risk don't fit anymore. That's why we have seen increasing prevalence of HIV."
That's a direct result of routine testing available to everyone, instead of the targeted testing based on risk.
Early detection not only makes it better for the patient because treatment has so greatly improved, allowing patients to live longer and healthier lives, but it also suppresses the infection, which is important to preventing transmission, and reducing the burden of infection in the community, added Hamour.
"Raising awareness among seniors is so important, and I am glad they are putting condoms in the seniors' centre," said Hamour. "That is pleasing to hear."
Anyone who is sexually active should get the routine testing that is in place in Northern Health.
HIV testing is now offered as part of regular patient care in the north at St. John Hospital in Vanderhoof, Stuart Lake Hospital in Fort St. James and the Fraser Lake Community Health Care Centre in Fraser Lake.
In Prince George the testing has been offered since last December to all UHNBC patients having blood taken while in hospital for another reason, helping to lift the stigma of being tested for the disease.
Acute care sites that will begin to offer the testing later in 2014 include the Lakes District Hospital and Health Centre in Burns Lake and all other northern B.C. communities will see routine testing done by 2016.
