Tag: HIV prevention

We have eight years left

It’s been just over a month since I took the reins as CATIE’s new executive director, but the countdown is already on. We have less than eight years for Canada to eliminate HIV and hepatitis C as public health threats. In 1990, CATIE was founded as a treatment information hub for people living with HIV. Since then, the organization’s mandate has expanded, and we are now Canada’s knowledge broker for service providers working in HIV and hepatitis C prevention, testing, treatment and care. For most of CATIE’s history, an end goal to the epidemic has always seemed just out of...

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Cross-boundary PrEP collaboration: A model to emulate

Since January 1, 2018, eligible British Columbians have been able to receive HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at no cost, but despite this coverage many still have restricted access to PrEP, especially people living in remote areas of the province. The barriers are many-fold and include persistent stigma, lack of access to healthcare providers and sexual health clinics, lack of awareness, individual discomfort accessing sexual healthcare and lack of transportation to pick up medication or to visit labs for ongoing testing.

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Communities start to envision rollout of long-acting PrEP

You may have heard about The Future of PrEP is Now, a research project aimed at understanding the needs and preferences of Two-Spirit, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (2SGBTQ) men and non-binary folks in regards to long-acting HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery. Despite the fact that oral PrEP is very effective at preventing HIV, it remains underprescribed to many equity-seeking communities.

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The future of PrEP is now!

A few days before ringing in the New Year, I received an email notification that got me super excited about the future of HIV prevention. I needed the boost – the omicron surge of COVID-19 was just starting to tear through communities across the country, and had even hit my own household, making for a painfully lonely holiday season just as my husband and our kids were starting the school winter break.

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Preventing HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic: PEP and PIP to the rescue

HIV continues to be a global health threat, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In keeping with UNAIDS goals for reducing that burden, HIV prevention by PEP and PrEP have played major roles in reaching those goals. While PrEP has been instrumental in preventing HIV in people with high-risk exposures, we have seen gaps in HIV prevention strategies, especially among individuals who have less frequent exposures. This is where “pill-in-pocket PEP”, better known as PIP, has a substantial role to play.

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