Category: Advocacy, Policy, Public Health

Call for Submissions – Knowledge Exchange in Essential Practices

Posted On: Friday, November 6th, 2020

OD-PREP: OverDose Prevention and Response Essential Practices Knowledge Exchange Series About the Project The Community Action Initiative (CAI), the Public Health Association of BC (PHABC) and the Canadian Mental Health Association – BC Division (CMHA BC), are working in partnership with a peer-led Advisory Committee to increase the documentation of community-based models of overdose prevention… Read more »

Got a Minute for Hepatitis C?

Posted On: Friday, November 6th, 2020

    Do you have lived experience of hepatitis C and live in BC? Your thoughts, feelings, and opinions will help build the future leadership training program: Click here to complete the Hepatitis C Leadership Project survey for people with lived experience   Are you part of a community-based organization, public health agency, health authority,… Read more »

HIV Self-Testing Approved in Canada!

Posted On: Friday, November 6th, 2020

Exciting news! Health Canada has provided final approval of Canada’s first HIV self-test on November 3, 2020. You can read key messages related to this announcement from REACH Nexus here.   This announcement marks a critical step to ending the HIV epidemic in Canada. HIV self-testing is expected to provide greater access to testing as Canadians will now be able to self-administer the HIV test on their own and where they feel most comfortable. This is… Read more »

Join us for our next virtual event- Alcohol: Community Trends and Impact

Posted On: Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020

Updated! Click here to view on-demand. Date: Wednesday December 2, 2020 Time: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM Pacific time     Registration is open for our next virtual event*. We are pleased to be working in collaboration with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR) to bring you a day-long virtual event featuring community… Read more »

Participation in Voices for World AIDS Day Campaign

Posted On: Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020

From Voices for World AIDS Day Each year leading up to December 1st, the Voices for World AIDS Day campaign unites diverse voices of individuals and community organizations across Canada to remember those we have lost to AIDS and raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. Last year, our Campaign garnered over 100,000 impressions nationally. This year, our Campaign will… Read more »

BC’s Overdose Overview: October 18-24, 2020

Posted On: Friday, October 30th, 2020

The BCCDC Overdose Dashboard provides updates on: Illegal drug overdoses attended by paramedics (BCEHS) Illicit drug toxicity deaths (BCCS defined) Mortality rate maps by Health Services Delivery Area (HSDA) Severity of ingestion poisoning calls coded in most severe category at time of ambulance dispatch (provincial view) Severity of overdose patient presentation assessed by paramedics using… Read more »

Substance Use News: October 2020

Posted On: Friday, October 30th, 2020

Substance Use News provides a snapshot of news and resources for those working in harm reduction. We share pieces on the social, medical and political responses to the opioid crisis, from advocacy to welcome change. With the added layer of the coronoavirus/COVID-19 public health constraints, those working in harm reduction have heightened concerns about how… Read more »

Check out the New Testing Technologies for STBBIs Resource Page!

Posted On: Friday, October 23rd, 2020

New testing technologies for different sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) are being developed and introduced for wide use across the country. Health Canada is expected to provide final approval for the distribution of HIV self-testing kits in the Fall of 2020. HIV self-testing will enable people to collect their own samples and interpret their… Read more »

Community Preparation for BC’s HCV Elimination Forum: Your Voice is Needed

Posted On: Friday, October 23rd, 2020

The Pacific Hepatitis C Network (PHCN) is excited to invite your participation in a short-term project that aims to gather perspectives, knowledge, and wisdom to inform the multi-stakeholder BC HCV Elimination Forum, scheduled for February 2021. To encourage commitment and action towards eliminating hepatitis C in Canada, the Canadian Network on Hepatitis C (CANHepC) plans… Read more »

BC’s Overdose Overview: October 11-17, 2020

Posted On: Friday, October 23rd, 2020

The BCCDC Overdose Dashboard provides updates on: Illegal drug overdoses attended by paramedics (BCEHS) Illicit drug toxicity deaths (BCCS defined) Mortality rate maps by Health Services Delivery Area (HSDA) Severity of ingestion poisoning calls coded in most severe category at time of ambulance dispatch (provincial view) Severity of overdose patient presentation assessed by paramedics using… Read more »

2020 World AIDS Day & Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week

Posted On: Thursday, October 22nd, 2020

  Amid the public health crises of COVID-19 and overdose deaths, plus a heightened awareness of systemic racism that plays out in healthcare and other services, Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week (December 1-5) and World AIDS Day (December 1) are undoubtedly going to look different this year. We welcome hearing what you and your communities are… Read more »

From discovery to cure: recognizing an arc of change of hepatitis C

Posted On: Thursday, October 22nd, 2020

October 5, 2020 arrived with the announcement of the Nobel Prize for Medicine being jointly awarded to three scientists for their 1989 discovery of the hepatitis C virus. The scientific work of Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice answered a significant question: since hepatitis A and B had already been discovered and… Read more »