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.
Gyms are closed, events are cancelled, restaurants are take-out only and most of us are staying home in order to reduce our physical contact with the community and other people. It’s been widely publicized that these changes have been implemented to help slow the transmission of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). And (trans and cis) gay, bi, queer, as well as other guys into guys, are taking it seriously. We are doing our part to the best of our ability.
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.
In 2018, I had the opportunity to spend time in Iran profiling an innovative hepatitis C treatment project for people who use drugs. In partnership with Iranian and Australian researchers and local service providers, I interviewed a number of researchers, clinicians and patients to showcase their success at curing hepatitis C despite stigma and other barriers. As an Australian filmmaker, I have spent much of my working life telling stories of social change with communities throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Yet stories from Canada and North America had remained the most unknown to me.
Poverty, stigma and criminalization are chronic problems among people who use and inject drugs. But hepatitis C virus (HCV) is no longer such a problem, since it is usually cured by eight to 12 weeks of oral, direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). Delivering DAAs to people who use and inject drugs in the context of the chronic problems facing them is an opportunity to recognize and support the contribution of people with lived experience, and to build and strengthen systems and programs.
