On July 13, 2026, Project ACE team member Sulemana Ansumah Saaka took the stage at the prestigious International Medical Geography Symposium (IMGS) to share critical insights on the fight against HIV-related stigma in Canada. Co-hosted by a collaborative network of Ontario institutions—including the University of Toronto (Mississauga St. George, & Scarborough) Toronto Metropolitan University, and Ontario Technical University—the symposium centered on a vital theme: responding to the growing state of global uncertainty and examining how multi-dimensional transitions over time and space influence societal wellbeing.

At the Geographies of HIV Session, Saaka’s presentation, titled “From Intervention to Practice: HIV anti-Stigma Empowerment Readiness Among Service Providers in Canada” (co-authored with Roger Antabe, Josephine Wong, and Isaac Luginaah), directly answered this call by tackling the intersection of structural racism, institutional challenges, and public health.

Challenging Structural Stigma & Empowering Communities

The presentation highlighted how modern research must expand on traditional sociological theories of stigma to address structural stigma—the macro-level social, political, and institutional arrangements that systematically disadvantage marginalized groups. Through the lens of the ACE intervention, the study evaluated how service providers can be empowered to actively dismantle these systemic barriers.

The post-intervention findings demonstrated profound, real-world transformations across three key areas. First, participants actively translated their training into institutional structural reforms, with service providers designing anti-bias training for municipal HR departments and auditing organizational policies for inclusivity. Second, the intervention sparked grassroots community empowerment, as participants established community donation hubs, organized cultural equity events, and volunteered with legal aid to help marginalized individuals navigate systemic housing disputes. Finally, service providers experienced significant personal and professional growth, committing to ongoing self-reflection, actively confronting their own implicit biases, and pursuing education on systemic racism and intersectionality to become more empathetic advocates. Ultimately, the presentation emphasized that while these grassroots efforts are vital, sustainable progress requires favorable government policies to fully integrate these anti-stigma frameworks directly into national health and social service delivery systems.

View the Full Presentation

For a deeper dive into the methodology, key metrics, and complete findings of this research, please explore the presentation document below.