A new Toronto HIV clinic is 'bridging the gap' in care with free medication and more

CBC

12 hours ago

A new, free-of-charge clinic in downtown Toronto is hoping to change lives for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
For people without coverage, it can be next to impossible to afford the medication needed to manage HIV. But access to medication isn't the only service that the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation (PWA) offers.
The PWA says it provides immigration services, a food bank and a lunch program to people in Toronto living with HIV.
Ower Oberto, the linkage to care manager at the centre, lives with HIV and came to Canada in 2014.
"I know how stressful it is not having access to medication," he said.
When he first immigrated from Venezuela, Oberto says he didn't know how or even if he could source his medication as a newcomer.
"People living with HIV with precarious immigration status, they wouldn't be able to see a doctor or they have to pay that doctor with money out of pocket," he said. "My medication costs more than $1,200 per month."
Eleven years later, he now works at the PWA's new clinic providing medication to people with HIV.
The clinic was created in partnership with Freddie — a health organization that specializes in HIV prevention and care.
"For us it's been an amazing partnership," Oberto said. "We feel like we are family."
The PWA's one-room clinic is staffed with two nurses and sees patients once a week, on Wednesdays. Clients don't need to be covered by OHIP or insurance, and vary in immigration status, from international students, to visitors and citizens.
"We are bridging all the gaps that have been [letting] … those folks fall into the cracks," Oberto said. "The population we see is a population that is also not easy to support because they don't fill the criteria for the other clinics that are in the city."
Clients are set up with patient assistance programs offered by pharmaceutical companies and leave the clinic medication in hand.
The clinic is located on the third floor of the PWA's building near Jarvis Street and Queen Street E.
Currently the clinic is running a pilot, which began in June. But Oberto has big dreams of scaling up so that it can serve more people with extended hours.
"We are looking forward to [having] more days or more hours, because it's getting busier," he said. "We are looking forward … to [having] a bigger clinic and also to have a pharmacy here downstairs."
Though the HIV-positive population in Canada is relatively small — approximately 62,790 as of 2020, according to a 2022 Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) report. That number is now growing despite education and prevention campaigns.
According to PHAC, 2,434 people learned they carried the virus in 2023, up 35 per cent from the previous year.
Of those diagnosed across Canada, PHAC estimates 87 per cent are in treatment and 95 per cent of those have suppressed viral loads, which doctors say makes the virus undetectable, untransmittable and prevents it from progressing to AIDS.
A decade ago, the United Nations set a goal to eradicate the HIV epidemic by 2030.
"This is the best way to do it," Oberto said.