Toronto 2008 - More than 60 First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth gathered at a workshop to create communications and media campaigns designed to inform other Aboriginal you on issues such as HIV/AIDS.

Hosted by the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) and Assembly of First Nations, the event drew youths between ages 15 and 29.  Together they devised strategies designed to address stigma, ensure support in remote communities, and promote awareness through social networks such as Facebook. The NCCAH provided materials and funding in support of the workshop event.

CAAN features a new website dedicated to youth, with sections on HIV/AIDS, sex and sexuality, and the importance of Aboriginal culture in the context of HIV/AIDS. Click here to find out more.

Stephen Lewis, the co-founder of AIDS-Free World and the former UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, drew attention to the issue of AIDS among Canada's Aboriginal population during a speech in Prince George, B.C. in 2008, saying the federal government needs to be taken to task on its "moral and ethical delinquency" concerning proportionately high rates of HIV infections among Aboriginal people. Lewis called it a “hidden epidemic” in much of northern British Columbia and other parts of the country.