\u201cThis is part of a national trend, and we are working with provincial and federal level partners,\u201d said Marie-Eve Perron, RN, nurse-counsellor with the CBHSSJB\u2019s public health department, \u201c[but] also for other STIs. This is something that we see for chlamydia and gonorrhea as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perron said the CBHSSJB has seen the same number of syphilis cases in the last four months that it has seen in each of the past four years.<\/p>\n
The Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee consists of nine member-nations around the east coast of James Bay in the north of Quebec. Because some of the individual communities are quite small, and syphilis is associated with such negative stigma, the CBHSSJB doesn\u2019t share case counts per community.<\/p>\n
Perron said the CBHSSJB\u2019s most recent awareness campaign is hoping to reach a new patient.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s changing is that people who were traditionally at higher risk for STIs are not driving the increases,\u201d she told APTN News.<\/p>\n
In other eras, she said, STIs were more prevalent among men who have sex with men, people of all genders who have many sexual partners, and people who have sexual contact with people they don\u2019t know very well (like partners met on dating apps, or while travelling).<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now we see that it also includes women and infants,\u201d Perron noted, \u201cbecause you can have congenital syphilis, which is the transmission from the mother to the infant during pregnancy or at birth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Syphilis is caused by a bacterium called Treponema pallidum.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s transmitted through vaginal, anal and oral sex, but also it can be passed through skin-to-skin contact if there\u2019s a skin lesion or a rash,\u201d Perron said. She noted the condition is often called \u201cthe great imitator,\u201d because its symptoms are vague and can easily appear to be those of other illnesses, allowing it to go undetected for a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to diagnose,\u201d Perron stressed. \u201cThat\u2019s why we emphasize the importance of getting tested, because it\u2019s really the only way to know if it\u2019s syphilis or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even if its symptoms are vague, syphilis will not go away on its own. The bacteria can remain in the body for years, with the potential to cause serious illness.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Over] many years,\u201d she said, \u201cit can lead to damage to the brain, to the heart, and other organs, and blood vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The awareness campaign, which includes pamphlets and social media posts, emphasizes the use of condoms to contain the spread of syphilis, as well as routine STI testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really aim to normalize the screening, the treatment, and the conversation that goes with it,\u201d Perron explained. \u201cSyphilis is an infection. It can be compared to other infections. It\u2019s not because it affects genitals or it\u2019s related to sexual health that it should be stigmatized.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emma Antoine-Allan is a member of the Native Youth Sexual Health Network (NYSHN), a youth-led group working to improve sexual and reproductive health for other Indigenous youth in Canada and the United States.<\/p>\n
![\"beaded](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Beaded-Condom-scaled.jpeg\")
A youth holds up a beaded condom during an Indigenous sexual-health workshop. Photo: Native Youth Sexual Health Network<\/p>\n
Antoine-Allan (who uses they\/them pronouns) said syphilis and other STIs are spreading in non-Indigenous communities as well.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a difference in the variety of medical services available to Indigenous youth, along with less privacy and sometimes more gossip. Even ground-breaking initiatives for remote reserves and towns, like a project for mail-in STI tests that began in northern Alaska, need to be scaled to specific needs of people living in those communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s challenging if you\u2019re living in a multigenerational home,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, if you\u2019re in a tiny fly-in community, you have to really trust that whoever is handling your mail is being discreet. So they actually shifted their program to [emailing] your results or [calling in] your results and making sure that it\u2019s you on the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Antoine-Allan, who is Anishinaabe, said their organization hopes to challenge the very stigma that makes STIs difficult to talk about. In order to do that, they say, health-care advocates have to provide STI services in culturally safe environments.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving somebody who can speak your language,\u201d they suggested, \u201cor having somebody who\u2019s familiar with how it is to greet you\u2014[serving] coffee or tea, you know? To have a conversation and watch your kids with you while you get tested. It\u2019s a really transformative experience that ideally all of us would deserve in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another piece for the NYSHN is to bring their message to where people are already going. Because free beading workshops bring out more people than free sexual health talks, the NYSHN offers workshops in beading condoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously they\u2019re not usable!\u201d Antoine-Allan said with a laugh. \u201cBut you get a little medallion that you can wear to the powwow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another successful move for the NYSHN has been bringing sexual health messaging tables to community bingo, because that\u2019s where everyone in the community is going to be. They\u2019ve found success giving out free bingo-dabbers to attendees who come over to talk.<\/p>\n
The key, Antoine-Allan said, is not to focus on the rising STI rates, but to tie community health responses to the ways communities are already thriving.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere I\u2019m from,\u201d they chuckled, \u201cwe thrive at bingo.\u201d<\/p>\n
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