The Middlesex London Health Unit is calling the rise of HIV and Hepatitis C infections a public health emergency.

Officials say locally there has been an alarming increase in the rate of these infections in the last decade. This is happening while Ontario’s rates are declining.   

The board will consider reallocating some funds to address this emergency on Thursday at its meeting.

Across Ontario, HIV rates went from 7.4 cases to 5.5 cases per 100,000 in the last 10 years. Locally, rates have gone from 5.9 cases per 100,000 in 2005 to 9.0 per 100,000 last.

For Hepatitis C, the local rates have climbed from 32.2 cases per 100,000 in 2005 to 53.7 cases per 100,000 in 2015. The figures for Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease and infective endocarditis are also cause for concern, the health unit says.

The health unit has been investigating this issue after seeing an increase in newly diagnosed HIV cases among people who use injection drugs.

The MLHU started compiling data in February and consulted several provincial and national experts.

The consultations considered what strategies could be used to address emerging public health issues related to injection drug use, and to discuss potential next steps including the potential for the health unit to serve as a site for point-of-care (rapid) HIV testing services.

“Distributing clean needles is an important part of preventing the spread of HIV, but needle distribution alone won’t solve this problem. We need to consider the underlying social determinants of health that are leading people to use these drugs and become infected with these viruses,” says Dr. Chris Mackie, Medical Officer of Health and CEO with MLHU

 “There is an urgent need to do more outreach to both understand and manage this complex problem. What we’re seeing is an indication that we need a supervised injection site in London.”

The health unit says the infection increase, along with the rise in injection drug use, are caused by several factors including mental health, addictions issues and the sharing of needles.

It has also requested that the Public Health Agency of Canada assign a field epidemiologist to Middlesex-London assist with this work.