The 11th Canadian Symposium on Hepatitis C returned on May 13 as part of the 2022 Canadian Liver Meeting. Convened by the Canadian Network on Hepatitis C (CanHepC), the theme of the day was clear: getting back on track toward hepatitis C elimination.
In a few weeks, the world is invited to Montreal for AIDS 2022, the 24th International AIDS Conference. At this time of writing, no public announcement has been made as to which of Canada’s dignitaries will be present. The last time this conference was held in Canada was 2006, in Toronto. The absence of our then prime minister, as well as the previous federal government’s abysmal record on HIV policy issues such as harm reduction, became an embarrassment for Canada on an international stage.
On May 13, 2022, the United Kingdom notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of two cases of confirmed monkeypox. Since that first signal, multiple countries across the globe have reported an increasing number of cases of this infection, with the WHO reporting 91 confirmed cases in non-endemic countries on May 21, 2022.
As a person living with HIV, I receive regular calls and messages from my peers with COVID-19 questions: “When I visit my family, should I wear a mask?” “Should I get a fourth shot, and when?” “How can mask mandates be lifted when we are in a sixth wave?”.
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.
For a few years now, our team at Clinique médicale l’Actuel has noticed an increase in patients using crystal meth. At the start of the pandemic, to address our patients’ distress and increased substance use, we secured private funding to set up a support program for our patients who use crystal meth and practise chemsex, also called PnP or party ‘n play. We also convinced the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services to carry out a pilot project with this population at the clinic.
