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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Focusing on lowering the spread of HIV and hepatitis C was the main topic of a seminar held in Ndilo this week. The NWT HIV and Hepatitis C Support Network held the workshop on Tuesday in an effort to better inform the community. Instead of trying to force people to quit habits that lead to the spread, the focus was on keeping drug abusers safe from harm.

Trevor Stratton stood up Tuesday morning at the Ndilo gym during a seminar put on by the NWT HIV and Hepatitis C Support Network to talk about harm reduction in aboriginal communities around Canada. - Katherine Roth/NNSL photo

Trevor Stratton, a Toronto-based aboriginal AIDS activist, spoke at the seminar and gave a personal account of being affected by HIV after his diagnosis in 1990.

"Aboriginal and gay men were forgotten back then, being about 10 years behind the mainstream HIV movement," he said.

After he was asked by a community health representative on his reserve to speak publicly about his condition, Stratton received a huge surprise regarding how well it was received.

"It really freaked me out how much support I got from sharing (my story)."

He now spends his time advocating for aboriginal people in Canada living with HIV and largely focuses on harm reduction and community readiness. These steps allow each community to acknowledge the presence of drug use and sexual activity that often leads to the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. Stratton said providing a non-judgemental atmosphere where people can talk and build trust is important in allowing people to realize that they are not alone.

"I don't know if this program saves lives. I have no way of knowing that," he said.

"But people who are infected have received support, and that is so important."

The idea of support without judgement was music to the ears of April Manuel from the Deh Cho First Nations "Believing in Yourself" program.

"It really reflects onto the program that we are doing," she said.

"We have to get support to figure out who we are before we can go on in life, and (Stratton) made that a very strong point."

A growing need for help in Yellowknife is what inspired the NWT HIV and Hepatitis C Support Network to form in April 2008. In Canadian aboriginal communities, 32 per cent of people infected with HIV are youth, 50 per cent are women, and the risk of those in prison is 10 times higher than the general population. After receiving $100,000 in funding from the Public Health Agency in February, the network now has the resources required to give people with chronic infectious diseases access to support programs and resources.

A meeting group is currently being developed by support network founder Debbie Russell and Irene Savoy for people in Yellowknife who are infected with HIV or hepatitis C. The goal for the future is to work together with the safe needle exchange program at the Jan Sterling building, said Russell.

"There has been a growing need, which is how the network started," she said.

"Now we are working on building a group where people can come who are directly affected."

Russell said although at points Stratton's message appeared to condone the use of drugs, that is not the message that the NWT HIV and Hepatitis C Support Network wants to send out.

"It is not about promoting drug use in any way shape or form," she said.

"Our perspective on harm reduction is exactly what it means: reducing harm. It isn't about counselling either, but reducing the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C."

City councillor Lydia Bardak has a different approach to the idea of harm reduction, and that is preventing the use of drugs before it becomes a problem. She was not present at the seminar, but said that the term "harm reduction" is one that seems to have different meanings.

"My own idea of reducing harm means starting very early in a person's life and continuously through life about the harm they do themselves when abusing substances," Bardak said. "There are lots of alternative activities encouraging people from a young age on to be involved in anything that is a healthier alternative to drugs."