| In the last two weeks, two residents of Beswick House, Calgary’s only palliative care facility for HIV/AIDS patients, died.
For many Calgarians who have come to think of the disease as a treatable condition or a Third World problem, that can be an alarming piece of information: people are still dying of HIV/AIDS in Calgary.
Penny Archer, the executive director of the SHARP (Society Housing AIDS Restricted Persons) Foundation which runs Beswick House, says death is part of the reason the facility exists, but that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.
"When this happens, we know we have to stop for a little while and realize why we’re here," Archer says. "We need to re-focus and move on."
It also means that, as another World AIDS Day rolls around on December 1, her work isn’t done. She has other patients at the facility in their last days, and the whole reason Beswick House exists is to make those days comfortable.
The SHARP Foundation operates two residences for HIV/AIDS patients in Calgary – Beswick House and Scott House, the latter of which is geared towards patients whose conditions have improved enough to move out of Beswick.
The foundation’s goal is to provide affordable care, which is becoming increasingly important, Archer says, because of Calgary’s booming housing prices, government cutbacks in service and the expense of HIV/AIDS treatments.
"If all of a sudden you develop an opportunistic infection, it’s very dangerous if you have HIV," Archer says. "We’re ending up with a lot of people sent home from the hospital early but still needing care."
Like many who work with HIV/AIDS patients, Archer tries to make part of her job educating people about the disease, especially because the general public’s knowledge has changed so much over the years. The stigma of carrying the virus has softened somewhat, but Archer thinks people have become complacent and have started to think of the disease as a foreign problem.
"I think we need to keep a global perspective, but we also need to take care of our own backyard," Archer says. "One thing people don’t think about is that people are coming here from all over the world and they become part of our community. We have to take care of them as well."
The foundation has been operating since 1990, but has tried to keep a low profile out of respect for its clients. Archer, however, is trying to generate interest in an upcoming event in recognition of World AIDS Day to help raise money to keep up the foundation’s work.
Much of the funding that supports SHARP comes from government, but about a quarter comes from private donations and fund-raising initiatives. Archer hopes the event will raise the awareness of the foundation – Archer thinks few people even realize Calgary has an HIV/AIDS hospice – and about the disease in general.
The fund-raiser is in honour of Calgarians living and dying with HIV/AIDS, and will include musicians, entertainers and dinner. It takes place December 1 at the Bankview Community Centre. Tickets are available by calling 272-2912.
AIDS infection rising
Contrary to popular opinion, AIDS Calgary says rates of HIV/AIDS infection are not decreasing.
As part of AIDS Awareness Week, the organization released some statistics in an effort to help people better understand the disease.
An estimated 50,000 Canadians have the disease, a 25 per cent jump from 1996. Similarly, the rate of new infections is not declining. About 5,000 Canadians contracted the disease in 2001, compared to 4,200 in 1996.
The type of people contracting the disease is changing – women and aboriginals are increasingly vulnerable to the disease. In addition, estimates say 15,000 Canadians don’t know they are carrying the virus.
HIV/AIDS is now being called the most devastating global health crisis in history.
More information about the disease and events planned in conjunction with AIDS Awareness Week is available at www.AidsCalgary.org or by calling 508-2500. |
