More obvious and sinister villains are responsible for the number of drug overdose deaths in Vancouver Island

 25 octobre 2016 •  Par Shane Calder

As of August 31st, 2016, the number of drug overdose deaths in the province of B.C. sat at 488, with the highest rate of fatal drug overdose occurring on Vancouver Island, where there has been a 135 per cent increase in fatal drug overdoses since August 31st, 2015 (compared to a 43.5 per cent increase provincially during the same time period). Health authorities, law enforcement, public health officers and politicians alike have stood shoulder to shoulder blaming fentanyl as the culprit; however I suggest that more obvious and sinister villains are responsible.

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From CWGHR to realize: A Coming of Age Story

 11 octobre 2016 •  Par Tammy C. Yates

Picture it … Quebec City, 1998, thirty people with diverse interests, identities and professions meet to discuss the idea of HIV and rehabilitation for the first time. All were curious, but unsure of the connection between rehabilitation and HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and the role they could play. There the Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR) was born! As people were no longer expecting to die of AIDS, this group of pioneers could see that rehabilitation – in a broad sense – was key to enabling people living with HIV to not only survive, but also thrive.

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We need to address the unique and complex issues of Indigenous people living with HIV

 4 octobre 2016 •  Par Cécile Kazatchkine and Sandra Ka Hon Chu

Indigenous people in Canada are disproportionately affected by HIV, representing 10.8 per cent of new HIV infections and 9.1 per cent of people living with HIV in Canada.[1]  In Saskatchewan alone, the number of Indigenous people living with HIV is around twice the national average and the highest in Canada and “one of the few places in the industrialized world where people are still dying from AIDS and HIV.” Lack of access to HIV treatment and care among other complex factors contributes to these alarming rates: in many rural or remote areas, HIV-specific services are simply not available, or the small...

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La Déclaration de consensus canadien. Appuyez-la. Utilisez-la. C’est ce que j’ai fait et voici pourquoi.

 13 septembre 2016 •  Par Glenn Betteridge

Plusieurs d’entre vous ont possiblement observé les fluctuations qui se produisent dans le mouvement communautaire, au gré des percées médicales et scientifiques, des priorités, du militantisme communautaire ainsi que des forces plus globales d’ordre politique, social et économique. Depuis plus de vingt ans que je travaille dans le milieu communautaire et y fais du bénévolat, je cherche à m’ancrer dans quelques fondements bien solides, pour donner une base stable à mon travail. Le lien essentiel entre la santé et les droits humains. La nécessité de fonder les politiques, programmes et services sur les données probantes et l’expérience vécue. De même...

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Indigenous Youth Leaders are Taking Action on HIV in their Communities!

 6 septembre 2016 •  Par Sarah Flicker and the Native Youth Sexual Health Network

Taking Action II is a community-based action research project about building and supporting Indigenous youth leadership in the HIV/AIDS movement.  We are a group of Indigenous youth leaders, Indigenous community-based organizations and university-based researchers. We wanted to create awareness around HIV, sexual health, and decolonization in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities across Turtle Island (also known as Canada). In Taking Action I, we worked with over 100 youth in six Indigenous communities across Canada to make art about the links between HIV and colonization. We did this as a way of broadening the conversations about HIV – to move...

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How intimate partner violence affects women living with HIV

 2 août 2016 •  Par Sandra Ka Hon Chu

A global study released last year revealed alarming figures concerning women living with HIV and violence. Among 945 women living with HIV from 94 countries who participated in the study, 89 per cent reported having experienced or feared violence before, since and/or because of their HIV diagnosis. Violence they experienced was reported to be higher after HIV diagnosis from their intimate partner and others in their social network. [1]The troubling nexus between HIV and gender-based violence spurred the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario and METRAC to produce a legal information guide for women living with...

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