Category: Advocacy, Policy, Public Health

We want to hear from you and your organization! Reducing the health impact of sexually transmitted and blood borne infections (STBBIs) is a key goal for British Columbia, for Canada, and globally. To support this goal, the Public Health Agency of Canada released a Pan-Canadian STBBI Framework for Action and a working group has been developed… Read more »

Supporting capacity building of community-based organizations across Canada to provide supervised consumption services: lessons learned to-date Date: Thursday May 30, 2019 Time: 10 AM Pacific time In early 2017, the Dr. Peter Centre received project funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada to provide capacity building to community-based organizations starting supervised consumption services (SCS)…. Read more »

From UNAIDS (excerpt)  UNAIDS and the LGBT Foundation have launched an online survey to evaluate happiness, sex and quality of life for LGBTI people. The survey, the first of its kind, is part of a campaign to gain more information and insight into the challenges faced by LGBTI people. The data gathered will help to… Read more »

Pozcast: Supporting PLHIV in their Health

Updated with webinar recording   June 11-17 is Men’s Health Week, and we sat down with James Watson, the host of Pozcast. The goal of Pozcast is to connect people living with HIV with HIV research in ways that matter. Episodes on men’s health have included HIV and fatherhood, and a series on drug use… Read more »

From the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network  Join us for an all-day discussion of science, law and advocacy related to HIV criminalization. We’re excited to be joined by Federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General David Lametti, among other distinguished speakers and guests. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the unjust criminalization of people… Read more »

On June 13 2019, Universities Without Walls will host The Positive Effect: an online conference in the fight against HIV stigma. All you need to join us is a computer that can connect to the internet. We want to share experiences of stigma, collaborate on projects with other HIV+ people, and foster a sense of… Read more »

Excerpt, Smart Sex STI Update, May 2, 2019 by Amalia Plotogea, Helena Swinkels, Shannon McDonald, Evan Adams, Daniele Behn-Smith and Jason Wong   HIV prevention continues to be a public health priority in British Columbia. Incidence and prevalence are two measures of disease frequency used to inform our response to the HIV epidemic. Incidence is… Read more »

Substance Use News April 2019

  Substance Use News provides a snapshot of news and resources for those working to support folks who use substances. We share pieces on the social, medical and political responses to the opioid crisis, from advocacy to welcome change. See our Drug Use and Overdose Response page for resources on overdose services, team resilience, governmental reports,… Read more »

Important update: working to end HIV criminalization

From the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network Legal Network testifies as Justice Committee begins study Last week, the House of Commons Justice Committee began its study of the Criminalization of Non-Disclosure of HIV Status. Our executive director, Richard Elliott, testified as a key witness to help our MPs gain more insight into what the law should… Read more »

BC Priorities Project 2019, Simon Fraser School of Public Policy Excerpt from the Executive Summary: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Canada exemplifies the widening gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health outcomes. Approximately 250,000 to 275,000 Canadians are living with HCV, with Indigenous peoples being disproportionately affected (CATIE, 2018). Although HCV demographic information is limited,… Read more »