Mississauga, ON— According to a new Ipsos-Reid and World Vision Canada survey, 95 per cent of Canadians believe it's important that our government help increase access to treatment for those suffering from HIV/AIDS in developing countries.

"Canadians are saying, 'get with the program'," says Dave Toycen, president World Vision Canada. "We want to see our federal Government doing more to respond to the HIV/AIDS crisis overseas."

The number of Canadians who believe HIV/AIDS is an international emergency has soared to 75 per cent in 2005, up 15 percentage points from 60 per cent in 2004. A majority of respondents (87 per cent) recognize that the continent of Africa has suffered the greatest impact from the pandemic. Canadians recognize that the pandemic is fuelled by a lack of political will as much as poverty. In fact, more than half (58 per cent) of Canadians agree that lack of political will is a major hurdle in effective response to HIV/AIDS.

"Reflecting upon these results, the government should recognize that most Canadians believe this to be an international crisis fuelled by a lack of international political will to solve the problem. And when Canadian adults are voicing concern about the government's choices to respond to such an emergency, someone needs to listen," says Ipsos-Reid Senior Vice President John Wright.

Canadians agree there needs to be greater access to quality health care (93 per cent); increased education and awareness of the disease and how it is transmitted (92 per cent); cheaper and accessible medicines (90 per cent); and a reduction of poverty (83 per cent) in order to improve the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS.

Last year, only 19 per cent of Canadians knew women were the most vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS. This year, 27 per cent of respondents believe women are the most vulnerable and 40 per cent believe young boys and girls are the most vulnerable—up from 34 per cent in 2004.

"HIV/AIDS is decimating entire generations across the developing world with young girls and women two-and-a-half times more likely to be infected than young boys or men," says Dr. Zari Gill, HIV/AIDS specialist with World Vision Canada. "What is encouraging from this report is that Canadians are understanding the issues around HIV/AIDS and looking for action from their government in order to reach out to the mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, and grandparents that struggle daily with this terrible disease."

Additional Information:

In addition to lack of political will, Canadians think key causes of HIV/AIDS include:

• Lack of education (87 per cent, up from 82 per cent in 2004),
• Poverty (59 per cent, unchanged from 2004),
• Sexual violence (41 per cent, new question for 2005),
  • Men are less likely than women to think that sexual violence is a key cause of HIV/AIDS versus men (34 per cent versus 47 per cent),
  • Young adults 18 to 34 years of age (44 per cent) and older adults 55 years of age and older (46 per cent) are more likely than middle-aged Canadians (35 per cent) to agree with sexual violence as a key cause.

Please visit www.ipsos.ca for full tabular results.