Tag: gbMSM | CATIE Blog

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.

Chemsex, PnP, crystal meth: What does harm reduction really look like?

April 26, 2022 • By Jonathan Bacon and Jean-Sébastien Rousseau

For a few years now, our team at Clinique médicale l’Actuel has noticed an increase in patients using crystal meth. At the start of the pandemic, to address our patients’ distress and increased substance use, we secured private funding to set up a support program for our patients who use crystal meth and practise chemsex, also called PnP or party ‘n play. We also convinced the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services to carry out a pilot project with this population at the clinic.

The future of PrEP is now!

March 25, 2022 • By Darrell H. S. Tan, MD, FRCPC, PhD

A few days before ringing in the New Year, I received an email notification that got me super excited about the future of HIV prevention. I needed the boost – the omicron surge of COVID-19 was just starting to tear through communities across the country, and had even hit my own household, making for a painfully lonely holiday season just as my husband and our kids were starting the school winter break.