To find out how the series It’s A Sin started a national dialogue about HIV in the United Kingdom, and what Canadian HIV organizations can learn from that experience, former CATIE board chair John McCullagh spoke to Ian Green, chief executive officer of Terrence Higgins Trust, the largest HIV charity in the United Kingdom.
Over the past five years, Ontario has seen a steady increase in the number of people using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Between January and March 2020, 8,413 people were on PrEP – up from 289 in 2015. While most of these people live larger cities like Toronto and Ottawa, PrEP use has also increased in regions across the province.
The introduction and wide availability of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) as a treatment for hepatitis C through a phased rollout from 2015 to 2018 held the promise of expanded access to treatment. These simpler treatments carried fewer clinical restrictions and required less specialist support, opening the possibility for primary care providers to treat their patients with hepatitis C. Given barriers to healthcare access for people who use drugs, those of us at the Toronto Community Hep C Program were curious to find out if this had in fact happened.
To better understand the issues and priorities of people who use drugs in Quebec during the COVID-19 pandemic and the overdose crisis, CATIE conducted a short interview with Frankie Lambert and Chantal Montmorency, two staff members of the Quebec association to promote the health of people who use drugs (AQPSUD). Here are the concerns raised by their community.
The emergence of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has disrupted the way we live and work. As evidence has continued to grow and evolve over the past 11 months, we have witnessed how quickly key messages and measures to reduce the transmission of the virus causing COVID-19 have changed. We have also seen how health and community services have adapted in the face of new challenges and many unknowns. This work to adapt in the face of so much disruption and uncertainty is challenging and a muscle that we are collectively using.
Viral hepatitis impacts Indigenous peoples around the world at much higher than average rates, harming their physical, spiritual, emotional, social and economic health. This is the result of historic and ongoing colonialism, and includes significantly worse health determinants, inadequate access to immunization and treatment, and inadequacies in the provision of culturally safe and responsive healthcare to Indigenous people. COVID-19 has further impacted Indigenous peoples, but many communities and healthcare practitioners are finding innovative ways of responding to the pandemic, while simultaneously trying to continue providing hepatitis care. Many of these responses were shared in a virtual mini-conference hosted by the...
