The overall purpose of OHESI is to meet the goals of Ontario’s HIV/AIDS Strategy to 2026: Focusing Our Efforts – Changing the Course of the HIV Prevention, Engagement and Care Cascade in Ontario.
Supported by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and prepared by the Ontario Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS (OACHA), the strategy embraces a bold vision – by 2026, new HIV infections will be rare in Ontario and people with HIV will lead long, healthy lives free from stigma and discrimination.
The new strategy builds on the foundation and successes of the last provincial strategy, and introduces a stronger focus on engaging people living with or at risk of HIV, as well as a greater awareness of the need to address the social determinants of health. The new strategy also commits the HIV sector in Ontario to: changing the course of the prevention, engagement and care cascade; focusing on the populations most affected by HIV; and finding new and better ways to connect HIV care with other health and social services.
Ontario’s HIV/AIDS Strategy directs resources to those populations of Ontarians most affected by HIV:
- People living with HIV;
- Gay men and other men who have sex with men, including trans men;
- African, Caribbean and Black communities;
- Indigenous people;
- People who use drugs;
- At-risk women, including trans women
The OHTN strives to invest in research that will benefit each of these communities in a way that reflects the epidemiology of the epidemic, supporting research leaders who can build research capacity within each community, and soliciting relevant research ideas.
