Tag: gbMSM | CATIE Blog

On-demand PrEP use among GBQM: Insights from the PRIMP study

September 23, 2024 • By Emerich Daroya, Daniel Grace and Darrell H. S. Tan

Many gay, bisexual, queer and other men who have sex with men (GBQM) can benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV transmission. The use of PrEP involves HIV-negative people taking antiretroviral drugs to lower their chance of getting HIV. PrEP is highly effective and can be taken daily or on demand through the 2-1-1 method, which offers an alternative dosing strategy. This method involves taking two pills two to 24 hours before sex, one pill 24 hours after the first dose, and another pill 24 hours after the second dose. In 2019, the World Health Organization endorsed PrEP on-demand...

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.