Posted On: Friday, October 20th, 2017
Updated November 1, 2017: Read the response letter from the Government In early October, PAN submitted a letter to the Premier John Horgan, Minister of Health Adrian Dix, and MLA Spencer Chandra-Herbert. PAN wrote in support of the request for PrEP to be immediately funded by the government of BC, a move initially advocated for… Read more »
Posted On: Tuesday, October 17th, 2017
On October 11, the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) released the province’s first-ever guidelines for prescribing injectable treatments for opioid addiction. Opioid use disorder is “one of the most challenging forms of substance use disorder facing the health care system in British Columbia” says the Executive Summary from the BCCSU. It also identifies fentanyl… Read more »
Posted On: Monday, October 16th, 2017
2017 Is the Year That HIV Stigma Is Finally Loosening reads the headline of a VICE piece. That caught my eye, given that stigma is still so often the point that people make when speaking about HIV, from those in communities contributing to the BC People Living with HIV Stigma Index Project to none… Read more »
Posted On: Sunday, October 8th, 2017
It’s interesting that Mental Health Day (October 10) and National Coming Out Day (October 11) nudge up against each other given they can be related. Coming out (or not) can deeply influence one’s mental health, and even after you’re out, stigma can be a problem in some layer of life. Family and friends may be… Read more »
Posted On: Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017
October 1-7 is Canada’s first HPV Prevention Week, boosted by the Federation of Medical Women of Canada. HPV is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections (STI) and up to 75% of Canadian men and women will have it at some point in their lifetime. Many will clear the infection on their own, but… Read more »
Posted On: Monday, October 2nd, 2017
Today the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a position paper, The Opioid Crisis in North America. As the Commission site notes, the position papers are developed to “address specific and urgent situations involving drug policy around the world. These Papers do not aim to be comprehensive reports.” Sections within the paper are broken down into… Read more »
Posted On: Monday, September 25th, 2017
Discrimination in health care settings creates barriers to reaching the prevention and 90-90-90 targets. UNAIDS is seeking examples of good practice in reducing all forms of discrimination in health care settings. Submissions will provide an opportunity to review best practices in reducing discrimination and to inform the Thematic Segment background note and discussions. Specifically, UNAIDS… Read more »
Posted On: Monday, September 25th, 2017
PAN has signed on to the the HCV Manifesto, which brings awareness to the problems widely faced by HCV+ people, and how they may be solved. Similar to the principles of Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV and Nothing About Us Without Us principles supported by people who use drugs, the HCV Manifesto states:… Read more »
Posted On: Monday, September 25th, 2017
Many of those living and working within communities affected by HIV are interested in how stigma impacts people living with HIV. PAN’s BC People Living with HIV Stigma Index Project looks into what is happening in various parts of BC; the upcoming national launch of the same study will explore different areas in Canada. … Read more »
Posted On: Saturday, September 23rd, 2017
Hope for Healing: Treatment Close to Home Residents of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, had to travel hundreds of miles from home to enter treatment programs for substance use problems, and being so far from home posed challenges for people. There are no plans to develop a permanent program in the near future, so what’s the answer?… Read more »
Posted On: Friday, September 22nd, 2017
Treatment Successes It’s getting better: AIDS Map’s Roger Pebody wrote about findings from here in BC that show that among the populations of people with HCV, an analysis found that older people, those co-infected with HIV, those who have cirrhosis and those who use drugs are more likely to receive direct-acting antiviral HCV treatment… Read more »
Posted On: Monday, September 18th, 2017
Opioid Stats Needed for Indigenous Communities Missing from information and discussion on the national opioid crisis is specific data on how the crisis is affecting people of Indigenous heritage. Earlier this summer, BC’s First Nations Health Authority produced Overdose Data and First Nations in BC: Preliminary Findings, but this is hardly the case across the… Read more »
