HIV and AIDS

Ontario Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS (OACHA)

The Ministry of Health recognized early in the HIV epidemic that to develop effective policies for a stigmatized epidemic required ongoing engagement with the community and clinical response, in order to access the knowledge gained through community mobilization, clinical services and direct lived experience, which would not be otherwise available to the government.

The Ontario Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS (OACHA) was created in 1991 and is an advisory agency under the Government of Ontario's Agencies and Appointments Directive (2015). OACHA’s mandate is to provide strategic advice to the Minister of Health on all aspects of HIV-related education, prevention, treatment, care and support in Ontario. OACHA supports and promotes informed decision-making.

The Committee is comprised of two Co-Chairs (one of whom must be a person with HIV) and up to 21 members, appointed by the Minister of Health. At least one-third of the membership will be persons with HIV. Membership must also reflect the lived experience of the populations in Ontario in which there is higher HIV prevalence, and the experience of people working in HIV clinical care services, community-based HIV organizations and public health, HIV research and other perspectives that ensure a level of collective expertise necessary to provide comprehensive advice to the Minister.

Since 1992, OACHA has advised the Minister on a range of important issues in order to reduce stigma and discrimination and strengthen access to the cascade of prevention, care, treatment and community services in place in Ontario to support full health for people living with and vulnerable to HIV. In 2016, OACHA recommended a comprehensive strategy to the Minister in support of a vision in which new HIV infections will be rare in Ontario and people with HIV will lead long, healthy lives, free from stigma and discrimination.

For more information on OACHA, including current membership, see Ontario’s Public Appointments Secretariat.