For more than a decade, the program’s two-pronged community development and social marketing strategy had demonstrated success in reaching these diverse communities across Ontario. However, in early 2020, we were forced back to the drawing board.
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.
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.
For many years, CATIE has promoted the importance of harm reduction as a strategy to prevent HIV and hepatitis C among people who use drugs. Through our work, we have developed strong partnerships with harm reduction service providers, educators and advocates. More recently, we have responded to the needs of our partners by expanding the scope of our harm reduction information and education work to cover harm reduction and the health and rights of people who use drugs more broadly.
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.
