Most Canadians want the federal government to help increase access to treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS in developing countries, according to an Ipsos-Reid poll released Friday.

Ninety-one per cent of those surveyed said that it's "very important" (46 per cent) or "somewhat important" (45 per cent) that the federal government should help facilitate access to drugs and medical treatments.

Stephen Lewis, board chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation; Dave Toycen, president and CEO of World Vision Canada; David Morley, president and CEO, Save the Children; and Sarah Hendriks, Advisor-Gender Equality and HIV/AIDS Plan Canada, speak at the release of the Ipsos-Reid poll.
(Anna Sharratt/CBC)

Residents of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were most likely to believe this is important, accounting for 93 per cent of the responses.

Forty-eight per cent of respondents felt that current spending on HIV and AIDS outside of Canada is too little, while 43 per cent said the government spends "the right amount."

Stephen Lewis, board chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, told CBC.ca that the poll highlights a large divide between the views of Canadians and their politicians. He spoke at a press conference in Toronto announcing the results of the Ipsos-Reid poll.

"I've never fully understood that. The G8 governments have always had this extraordinary disconnect between what obviously the public feels about the issue and what the politicians express or do on the issue. I don't know what that means," he said.

"Does it  mean that the budget is more important than human well-being? How do they go to Africa for their photo ops and then they come back and it's business as usual?"

Lewis used the press conference to lobby the federal government for more aid. "We are calling on Canada to provide five per cent of the global [AIDS] fund, which is $900 million over the next three years." 

"The G8 governments have always had this extraordinary disconnect between what obviously the public feels about the issue and what the politicians express or do on the issue." —Stephen Lewis

Lewis says he wants 12 per cent of that amount to be earmarked for children.

He says G8 governments should stick to their 2005 promise to increase aid by $50 billion US by 2010. Instead, he says, the amount of aid has actually declined.

He also feels Canada's aid as a proportion of gross national income is currently too low and should be raised from 0.34 per cent to 0.7 per cent.

"Canada is going in reverse," said Lewis.

Awareness of HIV decreasing

The poll also found that the majority of Canadians had a fairly solid knowledge of HIV and AIDS, with 70 per cent reporting that they were either "very well" informed (16 per cent) or "reasonably well" informed (54 per cent).

Stephen Lewis takes questions following the Ipsos Reid press conference on HIV on Aug. 10, 2007.
(Anna Sharratt/CBC)

However, this number was down 10 percentage points from the last Ipsos-Reid survey; in 2005, 80 per cent of Canadians said they felt "very well" or "reasonably well" informed about AIDS.

Canadians aged 25 to 54 were the most likely to claim they were at least "reasonably informed" (74 per cent).

Canadians volunteering less

In terms of the causes of the AIDS pandemic, 92 per cent of respondents felt that a lack of education about the disease is the primary driver. Sixty-seven per cent also said poverty is a key cause of the spread of the virus.

As for remedying the current global situation, Canadians felt that access to quality health care (95 per cent), access to cheaper and accessible medications (94 per cent) and a reduction of poverty (81 per cent) are all ways of improving the lives of those affected by HIV across the world.

Yet few Canadians actually help out themselves. While 70 per cent donate their money to AIDS-related causes, the poll found that only five per cent were currently involved in an activity to combat HIV and AIDS in developing countries.

This is a far cry from the nine per cent who reported being engaged in an AIDS-related cause in 2005.

Lewis says that number is disheartening. "It is a very serious signal. It worries me. Because I would have thought that increased interest in youth would compensate for any decline in other age groups.

"Apparently that's not the case."