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RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
University of Manitoba medical students advocacy committee members Humera Sadiq (from left), Kara Klassen, Russell Malabanan Noor Imran, Kyla Goulet-Kilgour, Kyra Cebula and JJ Mao. The committee is advocating for free condoms in pharmacies.<\/p>\n
She joins roughly a dozen colleagues on a medical students advocacy committee. Each year, the group chooses a topic to highlight to local politicians. They decided on HIV last September after looking at rates of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections in the province.<\/p>\n
Last week, Manitoba\u2019s chief provincial public health officer declared a public health emergency. Dr. Brent Roussin cited sexual intercourse as one of the main drivers behind rising HIV rates.<\/p>\n
His announcement took place one day before the students were to meet with Manitoba Liberals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe timing was interesting,\u201d said Goulet-Kilgour, 22. \u201cWe hope that having our advocacy efforts coincide with the \u2026 public health emergency will urge MLAs to take this matter seriously and implement evidence-based policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Condoms are a \u201ccost-effective\u201d method to help stem sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections. In an advocacy campaign document, the students cite a study from the Netherlands in which researchers found \u20ac5.51 (CAD8.85) was saved for every euro ($1.60) that was spent on an initiative to provide free condoms in gay bars. The 2019 study was published in the National Institutes of Health\u2019s National Library of Medicine.<\/p>\n
Manitoba would save money on HIV medication, hospitalizations and the negative effect on the workforce related to sexually transmitted infections, Goulet-Kilgour said, if it were to provide free condoms in pharmacies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally believe that a good health-care system should be seen as a pocketbook issue and an economic issue for our province,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The committee pointed to France, which made condoms free to people under 26 as of 2023.<\/p>\n
Manitoba funds safer sex supplies, including condoms, through regional health authorities and the Winnipeg-based Sexuality Education Resource Centre. The amount of funding allocated to such supplies wasn\u2019t available Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Still, pharmacies would be an ideal hub for free condoms because they\u2019re accessible to rural Manitobans, said Jodh Ghuman, a committee member.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis would provide a greater equitable access,\u201d the first-year Max Rady College of Medicine student said, adding Manitoba could follow France\u2019s model in which people are required to show their health card.<\/p>\n
The Sexuality Education Resource Centre has distributed nearly 80,000 condoms over the last two years, said Tanya Smith, the centre\u2019s administrative assistant. It ships in bulk to non-profits and events. People visiting its headquarters at 167 Sherbrook St., can take a pack home.<\/p>\n
For-profit companies \u2014 including, often, pharmacies \u2014 are not part of the centre\u2019s funding agreement with the province and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Smith explained.<\/p>\n
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority spends roughly $15,000 to $20,000 on free condoms annually, a spokesperson said. It\u2019s been distributing the items for at least 25 years.<\/p>\n
Some pharmacies are likely \u201cwilling and itching\u201d to provide free condoms, Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether or not it\u2019s good for their bottom line, and whether or not the government can actually provide the funding for that \u2014 those are two really different, major issues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Businesses selling condoms have a wider range of options than what\u2019s provided at non-profits.<\/p>\n
Smith has clocked a \u201cslight uptick\u201d in the number of condoms requested by organizations.<\/p>\n
Liberal Leader Willard Reaves met the student advocacy committee last week. The Manitoba government isn\u2019t doing enough to make people aware of sexually transmitted infections, he said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cA simple mail drop of awareness about the sexually transmitted diseases should happen,\u201d Reaves said. \u201cHere in the city, we have internet, we have all of these things.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you get further and further away from the city of Winnipeg, you find out that the information train is not as plentiful as it would be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The students are also advocating for greater education on sexually transmitted infections in schools. STIs and HIV are part of Grade 9 and 10 health curricula.<\/p>\n
There may not be enough support to hit all curriculum points in a year, Goulet-Kilgour said.<\/p>\n
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com<\/p>\n
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Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 Gabrielle Pich\u00e9 reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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