Category: Articles

There are thousands of people in Canada who are in a serodiscordant relationship, yet we know very little about their experiences and needs

01/17/2017

By James Iveniuk

Marcus and David have been dating for three years. Marcus is HIV-positive and David is HIV-negative. David was worried when he told his parents that his new partner was HIV-positive, but after they saw how happy Marcus makes him, they have welcomed Marcus into their lives. At the same time, they still worry that their son may become infected.

Faith is living with HIV, and her partner, Scott, is HIV-negative. Faith often finds herself having to educate Scott on what she has to do to manage her condition and Scott has had difficulty understanding because information changes quickly. They fight more often — about sex, about health —and about where they see their relationship going.

These are hypothetical examples of two different types of relationships that involve HIV, yet many other couples have their own, unique experiences. So it is hard to know what kinds of experiences are the most common for people in these relationships.

Undetectable=Untransmittable – CATIE signs on

01/13/2017

By Laurie Edmiston

All of us here at CATIE, and indeed around the world, are celebrating the most significant development in the HIV world since the advent of effective combination therapy 20 years ago – people living with HIV with sustained undetectable viral loads can confidently declare to their sexual partners “I’m not infectious!” The “fabulousness” of this news cannot be overstated. With or without a condom, if you’re undetectable you won’t pass along HIV! This is an absolute game-changer and those who live with HIV can proudly share this information. At the same time, service providers working in HIV must get up to speed fast and share this far and wide with their communities. CATIE will be developing more resources to help share this momentous news so stay tuned! In the meantime, look at the prevention resources on catie.ca and add your organization’s name to the Consensus Statement of the Prevention Access Campaign. Let’s get the word out!  Get tested, get on treatment, become undetectable and have lots of great sex!

 

Laurie Edmiston is executive director of CATIE, Canada’s source for HIV and hepatitis C information.

Spreading the good news about HIV treatment and prevention

12/01/2016

By Laurie Edmiston

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Good news? On this World AIDS Day, 2016, there is a lot to report.

The science of treatment and prevention has much to inspire agencies delivering needed services to people living with, and at risk of, HIV.

We know that there are significant health benefits for people with HIV to begin treatment as soon as possible after diagnosis. Early treatment with good adherence in order to maintain an undetectable viral load allows an HIV-positive person to live a long and healthy life. A ground-breaking study called START (Strategic Timing of Antiretroviral Treatment) found that immediate treatment upon an HIV diagnosis significantly reduced the risk of serious illness.

The Face of Our Story

11/15/2016

By Signe Dewar and Tom Barnard

signe-photo-cropped tom-photo-croppedThe Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, in partnership with the Toronto Community Hep C Program (TCHCP), invited people with lived experience of hepatitis C to take part in an art project called The Face of Our Story.  In that project, clay tiles depicting stories of lived experience would be displayed at the museum on World Hepatitis Day, July 28, 2016. This is the story of Signe and Tom who participated in the event.

The day arrived when we met with museum staff, were given a tour, and the project was explained to us. We were nervous.  We were proud to be part of this experience, but at the same time unsure of our surroundings and what was expected of us. None of us had ever put on an art show in a museum. We spoke in hushed tones and experienced a feeling of reverence as we saw the beautiful work of other artists. We exchanged glances and thought, “Uh oh! What are we doing here?”

More obvious and sinister villains are responsible for the number of drug overdose deaths in Vancouver Island

10/25/2016

By Shane Calder

shane-speaking-at-rally-croppedBritish Columbia, Vancouver Island in particular, is in the midst of health tragedy that many of us find hard to describe. In one sense, we can trace the beginning of this crisis to Thursday, April 14th, 2016 when the chief medical office, flanked by the B.C. Minister of Health, declared a public health emergency to address what had already been four terrible months of overdose-related deaths. Since then, I have been privy to receiving periodic updates from the B.C. Coroner Service on the ever-climbing death toll—the most recent post released mid-September.

On a personal note, this ever-escalating human tragedy started for me on December 21st, 2015, three weeks after the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria had stolen from their premises what has since been described as the largest theft of fentanyl in the history of the Vancouver Island Health Authority. On that afternoon of December 21st, the body of a much-liked client was discovered in a parkade less than a block from the region’s largest needle exchange. He died of an overdose.