Tag: gbMSM | CATIE Blog

Protecting ourselves, protecting each other: The current reality of GHB in the PnP scene and solutions to keep our friends alive

June 10, 2024 • By Jordan Bond-Gorr

Warning: this blog post describes a fatal overdose. This content will be upsetting to some of our readers. For support around grief and loss, please contact Healing Hearts Canada. Connor shouldn’t have died alone in his room. Left by his hookup, face down on his bed after passing out, he choked on his own vomit. His death was preventable: putting him in the recovery position and staying with him could have saved his life. Connor was the first in a series of recent deaths in Toronto’s party and play (PnP) scene attributed to GHB and its substitutes, GBL and...

Insights from the Engage Study: HPV vaccine effectiveness and uptake among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men

February 13, 2024 • By Dr. Ann Burchell and Dan Miller

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common virus that is most easily passed during sexual contact. The body clears most HPV infections on its own, however some become persistent. There are many different types of HPV. Certain types can cause cancer, including anal, cervical and oral cancers. Some types cause anal and genital warts. HPV cannot be cured by medication, but there are vaccines that can prevent a person from getting some types of HPV. All HPV vaccines protect against the two types that cause most cases of anal and cervical cancer (types 16 and 18), and some vaccines protect...

Insights from the Engage Study: The road to elimination of HIV as a public health threat for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men

November 21, 2023 • By Trevor Hart and Dan Miller

Recently released estimates from the Public Health Agency of Canada show significant progress toward eliminating HIV as a public health threat for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (gbMSM). The estimated rate of new infections among sexually active gbMSM decreased by 20% from 2018 to 2020, which is a huge cause for celebration. Also encouraging are the estimates from 2017-2019 data that show 98% of gbMSM living with HIV in Canada had been diagnosed, 96% of those diagnosed were on treatment, and 94% of those on treatment had achieved viral suppression. Viral suppression means that the...

Listening to communities: Lessons from the HIV/AIDS and monkeypox epidemics

November 9, 2022 • By Malika Sharma

Just over 40 years ago, clinicians recognized a rare form of pneumonia in a handful of otherwise healthy young men in Los Angeles. This cluster would soon become known as the “start” of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2022, clinicians in sexual health clinics in Montreal reported the first cases of monkeypox in Canada. In both instances, however, affected communities were the first to know that something was up. In the years before HIV was identified, people who inject drugs talked of “junkie pneumonia” or “the dwindles”. Later, these were identified as AIDS-related complications. Early in our current global monkeypox outbreak, members...

Montreal’s response to an international outbreak of monkeypox virus: First steps towards action

May 27, 2022 • By Antoine Cloutier Blais, MD and Sébastien Poulin, MD

On May 13, 2022, the United Kingdom notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of two cases of confirmed monkeypox. Since that first signal, multiple countries across the globe have reported an increasing number of cases of this infection, with the WHO reporting 91 confirmed cases in non-endemic countries on May 21, 2022.

Communities start to envision rollout of long-acting PrEP

May 12, 2022 • By Mik Vattiata

You may have heard about The Future of PrEP is Now, a research project aimed at understanding the needs and preferences of Two-Spirit, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (2SGBTQ) men and non-binary folks in regards to long-acting HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery. Despite the fact that oral PrEP is very effective at preventing HIV, it remains underprescribed to many equity-seeking communities.