Posted On: Tuesday, November 14th, 2017
Responding to BC’s Opioid Overdose Epidemic Progress Report The newly established BC Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions has released an update on the opioid crisis with the October edition of Responding to BC’s Opioid Overdose Epidemic Progress Report. The stats remain grim. While deaths from illegal drugs excluding fentanyl have decreased in 2017, fentanyl… Read more »
Posted On: Tuesday, November 7th, 2017
I attended the most recent BC Centre for Excellence in HIVAIDS (BCCfE) Antiretroviral update yesterday and left with good information. Presentations covered cancer and HIV; cardiovascular disease risk and management; harm reduction and opioids; PEP guidelines and best practices. Dr. Julio Montaner gave a BCCfE update, including here we stand on publicly funded PrEP, an… Read more »
Posted On: Tuesday, November 7th, 2017
I attended the most recent BC Centre for Excellence in HIVAIDS (BCCfE) Antiretroviral update yesterday, and as usual, had lots to think about once the day concluded. Presentations covered cancer and HIV; cardiovascular disease risk and management; harm reduction and opioids; PEP guidelines and best practices. This post summarizes the morning’s information and community takeaways… Read more »
Posted On: Tuesday, October 31st, 2017
Thank you to all the PAN and community members (established and new) that joined us for the Fall Conference, AGM, and PLHIV Forum last week in Richmond. We will be gathering resources from presenters and sharing them on the conference page so all who attended and those who weren’t able to can view them. In… Read more »
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: 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: 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: Monday, September 18th, 2017
Position: Knowledge Translator: Positive Living, Positive Homes study (two positions available) Status: Temporary, Part-time: 2-4 hours per week, depending on the demands of the project. Compensation for training will also be provided. Time Period: 24 weeks (Oct 2017 – March 2018), with possibility of a short extension dependent on performance and project resources. Location: To… 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 »
