Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Nanaimo—Cowichan. She has done a lot of work as our aboriginal affairs critic, as well as bring these issues to the forefront in her community. I am glad that she is participating in the debate.
I just found a report called “Renewing our Response” to HIV-AIDS in aboriginal Communities in B.C. It discusses the issue of under-reporting. In fact, the Public Health Agency of Canada estimates that approximately one-third of aboriginal people infected are unaware of their HIV status. This means that many more aboriginal people may be infected with HIV, but either have never been tested or have not been tested recently and do not even know they have the infection.
One of the really serious aspects we are facing is we are not even reaching the people who are most at risk because of the way our health care system is set up. There are places in my community, like Vancouver Native Health, that are on the street and very grassroots, but overall our health care system has not been able to reach out.
Has the member had similar experiences in her community that create these kinds of issues?