Indigenous responses to COVID-19 and hepatitis: A conference report back

Viral hepatitis impacts Indigenous peoples around the world at much higher than average rates, harming their physical, spiritual, emotional, social and economic health. This is the result of historic and ongoing colonialism, and includes significantly worse health determinants, inadequate access to immunization and treatment, and inadequacies in the provision of culturally safe and responsive healthcare to Indigenous people. COVID-19 has further impacted Indigenous peoples, but many communities and healthcare practitioners are finding innovative ways of responding to the pandemic, while simultaneously trying to continue providing hepatitis care. Many of these responses were shared in a virtual mini-conference hosted by the...

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Making OraQuick quicker: The VIRCAN 5-Minute Rule

Point-of-care (POC) tests for hepatitis C expand testing beyond clinical settings where a blood draw is not readily available. They are an important tool in the effort to eliminate hepatitis C as an endemic disease by 2030. The only Health Canada-approved POC test is the OraQuick hepatitis C antibody test, which requires a 20-minute wait before the results can be read.

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What do online users want from HIV/STI risk calculators?

Risk calculators for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) use answers to a set of sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, sex, ethnicity, geographic location), health status, or behavioural questions to estimate a person’s risk for developing or acquiring HIV and STIs. They can also indicate the most appropriate action for users to take.

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Sujets vedettes de 2020 dans le Blogue de CATIE

L’année 2020 laissera une marque indélébile dans notre conscience collective : la planète est confrontée à la nouvelle maladie à coronavirus (COVID-19). Cette pandémie semble avoir consumé nos vies. Pour plusieurs d’entre nous, pas un jour ne passe sans que nous pensions au virus, à la façon dont il a modifié nos activités quotidiennes et à ce que nous devons faire pour que nos communautés demeurent en santé. Depuis que le virus a frappé le Canada en mars 2020, les prestataires de services aux quatre coins du pays se sont mobilisés pour assurer la sécurité de leurs clients et leur fournir les soins...

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Four questions with the Manitoba HIV/STBBI Collective Impact Network

The Manitoba HIV/STBBI Collective Impact Network is an initiative to eliminate sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) as a public health threat through collective and collaborative action. The network is hosted by Nine Circles Community Health Centre in Winnipeg. Mike Payne and Laurie Ringaert, the strategic facilitators for the Network, answered a few questions from CATIE about how the Network is addressing STBBIs in the province.

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Transitioning from incarceration to the community: Reducing risks and improving lives of people who use substances

To help incarcerated people who use substances successfully integrate back into their communities, Direction 180 started the Peers Assisting and Lending Support (PALS) program in January 2019 through harm reduction funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada.  Direction 180 is a community-based organization that offers an opioid treatment program in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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