HIV screening kits and sexual health surveys could be coming to a Pride festival near you. The Community-Based Research Centre is collecting data from pride events across Canada and offering Free HIV self-testing kits to anyone 18 years or older, who wants one.
The Pride Festival in Winnipeg was the first stop for CBRC on their cross Canada tour, research director Nathan Lachowsky says he expects to visit around 24 pride festivals including Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary. Lachowsky says in Winnipeg around 300 people participated in the study during Pride weekend.
“Clearly the community was interested and excited and it was great that people came out, and really took some time out of their pride celebrations to participate in research and give back to the community, so we are really grateful to everyone who participated,” explained Lachowsky.
The Sex Now survey is Canada’s longest-running health survey of gay, bisexual, queer, trans, Two-Spirt and non-binary people. The data helps to shape public health care policies.
This article was written by Mark Neufeld and originally posted on City News Winnipeg. Please click HERE to read the full article.
