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March 13th, 2020

The Canadian Association of Nurses in HIV/AIDS Care (CANAC/ACIIS) is postponing its annual conference due to the Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). This unanimous decision was reached by the CANAC board and supported by our preconference partners the Harm Reduction Nurses Association (HRNA) and the Alberta Coalition of Nurses for Harm Reduction (ANCHR).

For over a year, we have anticipated that we would gather in 2020 to share practices and research that highlight the conference theme of Advocate. Inspire. Change. We value our annual face-to-face meetings – as they are rich and meaningful places of learning and places where we can network and celebrate each other’s work and accomplishments.

Sadly, the spread of the coronavirus makes it impossible to gather in May and it would be irresponsible of us to encourage attendance when those who come, could be exposed. Many health care workers, particularly nurses are also being called to assist in managing the pandemic.

Over the next twelve months, once COVID 19 no longer restricts all of our lives, we will plan to host local events across the country to ensure that members can come together to network and learn from each other. We received stellar, thought provoking and inspiring abstracts for workshops and presentations. We will work with those who submitted abstracts to share their work through our newsletters or through webinairs. We hope that the amazing keynote speakers, who enthusiastically had agreed to come to our conference will come next year.

One of CANAC’s most wonderful strengths has been its annual conference. Those who have already registered for the conference will receive full refunds of their registration fee. If you have booked hotels and flights, we encourage you to cancel these and any other arrangements, but we cannot control flight cancellation costs.

We are most grateful for your ongoing support, as the success of our annual meetings depends on all of you in creating a common sense of purpose. We look forward to seeing you in 2021 in Edmonton. Stay tuned, you will hear from us soon again.

– Members of the CANAC/ACIIS Board, the HRNA board, and the ANCHR board

To honour our communities, their knowledge and their strength, CANAC is proud to endorse the HIV2020: Communities Reclaiming the Response gathering slated for July 2020 in Mexico City. We stand in solidarity with people living with HIV and affected communities.

This year the theme for World AIDS Day is Communities Make the Difference. It is an important theme that recognizes the value of community and that much happens when people come together. Communities have come together to provide care, to tackle stigma and to create spaces where people are recognized and remembered. Some of these communities are being led by people living with HIV; other communities are being led by nurses in an effort to provide care, challenge discrimination and ensure human rights are being upheld.

There are many examples that show what can happen when communities come together. Here is one example, which is inspiring, shared by Jeff Rheinhart, the current treasurer of CANAC:

In July of 2018, I attended a planning meeting around gay men’s health in Toronto, hosted by the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN). While there, I found myself in a small breakout session with other healthcare providers, community workers and people living with HIV to discuss healthcare access for people with HIV who do not have immigration status or health insurance in Canada. There was a willingness in the room to respond to the needs of people who live in Canada ‘undocumented and uninsured’. One year later, in August 2019, we opened the Blue Door Clinic.

The Blue Door, at its heart, represents a combination and culmination of all of the important lessons we’ve learned about HIV care since the 80s. As a clinic specializing in HIV treatment and care for people who are precariously insured or who lack access to care due to immigration status or insurance status in Toronto, the clinic aims to make a dent in the remaining 10-10-10 of the cascade. Many in the HIV movement consider this part of the cascade where priority efforts are needed to curb the epidemic. But aside from those high level policy foci, I started to think more about the Clinic’s operation and its relationship to some of the ideals of HIV nursing.

We often think about GIPA and MIPA (greater and meaningful involvement of people with HIV/AIDS), but sometimes have a hard time translating that into practice. For Blue Door, part of GIPA/MIPA had to be listening to people with HIV for years, some of whom reported to us that, despite efforts to meet their needs, their immigration status still made it hard to access care; listening and holding that in our minds, waiting for the stars to align, like they did that day in July 2018, to make a move towards making a change. As nurses, we hear about the challenges of our clients, respond to what we can within the systemic limits around us and foster patience in ourselves to be able to change the system when opportunities arise.

From the beginning of the movement, community collaborating was a cornerstone of the HIV response. And so community and ASO partners are cornerstone to the Blue Door’s success, helping to identify people who could use the service and support them as they navigate through the medical pieces of HIV care. Clinically, we know that interdisciplinary care improves outcomes for clients. The Blue Door works with doctors, nurses, social workers, case managers, coordinators, peer workers, reception staff and managers to respond to client needs. This holistic care would not be possible without the combined partnership of ten different health and social service agencies.

All of this comes together for just 6 hours each month of clinic time. A tiny grain of sand in the hourglass that makes up all the time spend to address HIV and its impact. But a grain of sand that is impactful, meaningful and collaborative and one that I am proud to share with you on World AIDS day.

We hope you will find time this week to join your local communities in an efforts to address pressing issues in HIV care, treatment and prevention, and to draw attention to the importance of protecting the human rights of people living with HIV.

This year’s annual CANAC Conference welcomed Dr. Michael Silverman,  Lawson Associate Scientist and Chair/Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London as a plenary speaker at the PreConference day. This day highlighted work that is being done in London, ON to combat the declared HIV/HCV crisis. One of the ways the outbreak in London is being tackled is through the “Cook Your Wash” Campaign, research done by Dr. Silverman and other researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University.

The Ontario Harm Reduction Distribution Program (OHRDP) and The Ontario Harm Reduction Network (OHRN) have created a document that summarizes and emphasizes key messaging surrounding this campaign.

Be sure to check out this document and also the published studies in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (JAIDS) – free without subscription. There will be prompting for a sign in, click cancel and go back on your browser.

https://www.catie.ca/sites/default/files/ohrdp-ohrn-note-findings-05032019.pdf

https://journals.lww.com/jaids/pages/results.aspx?txtKeywords=silverman+injection+drug

Childhood Sexual Abuse in a Population of Patients Living With HIV: Prevalence and Impact by Jane McCall, MSN, RN, Patricia Lauridsen-Hoegh, BSN, LLB, RN, Dave Unger, BA, MSc, MD, CCFP, FCFP, J. Craig Phillips, LLM, PhD, RN, ARNP, ACRN, FAAN, Julie Kille, BSN, MSN, RN.

The Canadian Association of Nurses in HIV/AIDS Care (CANAC), in partnership with the CNA and the Harm Reduction Nurses Association (HRNA) are pleased to release a joint position statement on Harm Reduction and Substance Use.

Harm reduction is an essential approach to reduce the adverse health, social and economic consequences of substance use without requiring abstinence.

Read more in the joint position statement.

An average of 4 people died from illicit drug use every day this May reports the BC Coroners Service.

A total of 129 British Columbians died of overdose in May 2017 – that’s a 158% increase over May 2016. Until November 2016, B.C. had never seen as many as 100 drug deaths in a single month. In every month since then, the number has exceeded 110, with the all-time high being December 2016 with 159 deaths.

The total overdose death toll for 2017 is now 640 people. That’s nearly twice the number at this time last year. 2016 is currently the deadliest year on record for overdoses in BC but it looks like 2017 will be even deadlier and officials are expecting over 1200 deaths with 7 more months before year’s end.

“The number of deaths shows that the risks remain extreme,” said Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe, in a statement. “The drug supply is unsafe, and casual and occasional users are at high risk of overdose due to their opioid naiveté.”

The BC Coroners Service says that the proportion of illicit drug deaths where fentanyl was detected continues to climb. During 2016, the proportion of fentanyl-related deaths stayed the same at about 60% but in the first four months of 2017, that figure rose to 72%, indicating continued toxicity within the drug supply.

Visit our new page on Harm Reduction to learn about Harm Reduction, Heroin Assisted Treatment and more.   For a powerful introduction, click on the link to learn from patients and staff at Vancouver’s  Crosstown Clinic

Read CANAC’s new Position Statement, here.

CANAC publishes the result of a pilot project on HIV core competencies.