Category: News | Page 19

Hepatitis C elimination in Canada: Five approaches to make it happen

July 2, 2019 • By Christopher Hoy

Canada is one of 194 countries that have signed on to the World Health Organization’s Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis, committing to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health threat by 2030. The wide availability of a cure for all Canadians, along with new tools to prevent and diagnose hepatitis C, mean that elimination is now possible for the first time. This year, new research and examples from other countries have shown how we can approach an elimination strategy, and Canada has started to build momentum. Here are five approaches that we can adopt to make hepatitis C...

Working to end the criminalization of HIV in Canada

June 25, 2019 • By Alexander McClelland

On June 14, I travelled to Toronto to meet with leading activists, researchers and experts working to end the criminalization of HIV in Canada for the 8th Symposium on HIV, Law and Human Rights. Organized by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the annual forum for the past few years has focused solely on advocacy to end Canada’s position as a global leader in the criminalization of people living with HIV for alleged non-disclosure, exposure and transmission.

In the eyes of Indigenous people: The link between colonialism and hepatitis C, and the need for historic trauma-informed care

April 15, 2019 • By Sadeem Fayed and Dr. Alexandra King

Why do First Nations, Métis and Inuit in Canada carry such an unfair burden of hepatitis C in Canada? It is estimated that hepatitis C among Indigenous people is five-times higher than non-Indigenous Canadians. In particular, Indigenous women represent almost half of all hepatitis C cases in their communities, a much higher proportion than among the non-Indigenous Canadian population. Young Indigenous people (24 years and under) represent 70% to 80% of hepatitis C infections among people who inject drugs in Canada.

A step by step process on how we can support mothers living with HIV

March 11, 2019 • By Dr. Mona Loutfy and Dr. Sean (Ari) Bitnun

As doctors specializing in the clinical care of women living with HIV, we often get questions about breastfeeding and the transmission of HIV. Here’s just one e-mail we received from an infectious disease specialist outside Ontario: “I am seeing a young African woman as a patient who is HIV positive, had advanced disease, but now is suppressed. She is pregnant and had two deliveries in Africa, where she was encouraged to breastfeed. She is still quite adamant about breastfeeding despite my counselling otherwise. How do you manage these situations and what is your approach to this?”

Gay men, substance use and harm reduction: it’s time to act

February 4, 2019 • By Dane Griffiths

Harm reduction and gay men’s HIV prevention could be considered two historic elements in our HIV response that have long stood separate from one another. Traditionally, HIV prevention with gay men focused on sexual risk, while harm reduction focused on risks associated with injection drug use. Both approaches have evolved over the decades and some might argue that safer sex is a form of harm reduction, but in the context of drug use, there has been little focus given to harm reduction in the context of gay men’s sexual health.

Comment la PrEP et la charge virale indétectable redéfinissent-elles les relations sociales des hommes gais et bisexuels?

January 14, 2019 • By Gabriel Girard

Indétectable = Intransmissible, PrEP, Traitement comme prévention… Si ces approches font aujourd’hui consensus parmi les experts communautaires et scientifiques du VIH, leur appropriation par un plus large public reste encore incertaine. Dans la communauté gaie, ce nouveau contexte de la prévention suscite encore des résistances ou des questionnements : il suffit d’engager la conversation sur le sujet, en ligne ou dans un bar, pour s’en apercevoir!