I have worked as a nurse in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, or what we call DTES, for almost 20 years, first for the University of British Columbia and now for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, based at Pender Community Health Centre.
Much of what Dr. Anthony Fauci, the esteemed head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), learned about clinical trials for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), he learned from sparring with HIV community activists.
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has changed our entire way of life. Like all CATIE staff, I am playing my small part in the public health response by complying with physical distancing guidance and working from home. I know that many of the people we work with have had their lives disrupted in much more serious ways – losing jobs, managing complex changes to service delivery, or being redeployed to the front lines of the COVID-19 response.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has everyone extremely worried, and understandably so. But there is another public health emergency that still hasn’t been resolved – the overdose crisis. And COVID-19 is threatening to create two epidemics among people who use drugs, unless we take immediate action.
L’irruption de l’épidémie de COVID-19 a entraîné des changements majeurs dans nos vies quotidiennes. Le confinement d’une bonne partie de la population mondiale et les restrictions de circulation en sont des illustrations spectaculaires ! Mais quelles sont les implications de cette situation inédite pour la santé des hommes ayant des relations sexuelles avec d’autres hommes (HARSAH) ?
Let’s get real right away. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is not a hoax. It’s not an overblown media story. It’s here amongst us and we have to take it very seriously. The threat to our own health and to that of the community we live in is real.
