Category: Opinions | Page 2

AIDS 2022 in Montreal: Will Canada’s HIV response hold up against scrutiny?

June 8, 2022 • By Laurie Edmiston

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.

Chemsex, PnP, crystal meth: What does harm reduction really look like?

April 26, 2022 • By Jonathan Bacon and Jean-Sébastien Rousseau

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.

Parenting, substance use and the child welfare system: Sharing lived experiences and providing support

April 26, 2022 • By Cassandra Smith

Cassandra Smith is Black CAP’s harm reduction specialist. CATIE recently spoke with Cassandra about how her lived experiences as a community member and parent have informed her harm reduction work, and how harm reduction programs and services can meet the needs of racialized parents who use substances.

Beyond “vax-hesitance”: The social determinants of COVID-19 vaccination

November 9, 2021 • By Shriya Hari

COVID-19 vaccines are powerful tools in the fight against COVID-19 and have been crucial in combatting the latest wave. Vaccination reduces the likelihood of spread and also reduces the likelihood of serious illness with COVID-19 if a person gets infected.

The fight for supervised consumption sites to remain open in Alberta

August 30, 2021 • By Kathleen Larose

Just like across Canada, the number of overdoses continues to climb in Alberta because of a toxic drug supply, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic that has interrupted the supply of drugs. In Alberta, drug toxicity deaths have been devastating to people with lived or living experience of substance use, as well as their friends and families. In the province alone, we have seen 1,334 fatal overdoses in 2020. We mourn each person lost.

What role do seniors play in the HIV community: A personal perspective

June 18, 2021 • By Bob Leahy

To understand the breadth and complexity of aging with HIV, one really needs to experience it. Much of the dialogue, though, is driven by those who haven’t. That is particularly apparent with respect to issues affecting our elders. And that is why my interest is not so much in HIV and aging as in HIV and the aged. In other words, the destination is as important as the journey.