News

On this World AIDS Day, I ask you to take time to remember, reflect, and renew your commitment to the important work you do as a nurse or healthcare provider. Each year World AIDS Day gives us an opportunity to remember those we have lost to HIV disease and other pandemics. It also allows us to remember why we do the work we do. This day gives us an opportunity to reflect on the lives we have changed and will change as well as how we can continue engage in self-care that allows us to do the work we do. World AIDS Day also gives us an opportunity to renew our commitment to ourselves and those we serve. This period of renewal aligns with the approach of the winter season which in many Indigenous cultures is a time for renewal and rejuvenation. It is the season when much of Canada and the northern hemisphere enter the slumber that renews life that manifests prominently during spring. This year we are at an inflection point with the SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic when we are seeing progress while navigating hurdles that continue to lay bare social and political upheavals, we must navigate to weather the transition from a pandemic to an endemic state where we live with SARS CoV-2. As we move forward, it is important for us to heed the concern expressed in the UNAIDS theme for World AIDS Day 2021, “End inequalities. End AIDS. End pandemics.” As we strive to achieve these goals, remembering, reflecting, and renewing our commitments will help us achieve the goals espoused in this theme that are grounded in human rights-based approaches to caring for ourselves and our communities.

In humility and respect,

J. Craig Phillips, LLM, PhD, RN, ACRN, FAAN, FCAN
CANAC President

CANAC’s 29th Conference will be held virtually from May 14th to 16th, 2021 from the comfort, and familiarity, of your computer chair!

To register for the conference, please click here! 

For further information, please visit our conference webpage to the left.

The theme for the 2020 Worlds AIDS Day is Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility. It is an important focus given that the need for global solidarity has never been greater. While significant advances in an effort to end HIV have been lost due to the impact of the COVID19 pandemic, particularly for women and girls, now is the time to imagine a different world. As we seek solidarity it is important that we challenge colonial systems and their power structure and to advocate for freedom and plurality, as foundational to solidarity. Over the past few months, we have seen that the actions of politicians create greater inequities and reinforce differences both locally and globally. It is now that we must demand that we make different choices. Choices about how we want to live together, choices that will allow us to have a world that is marked by global solidarity and shared responsibilities. There is a great need to challenge, to raise questions, and to demand how we build a world in which we emphasize democracy, human rights, and equity. The call for shared responsibility demands that we engage in thinking that has ethical and political implications. This is the time that we need to call forth the knowledge we have gained in the context of the HIV movement. Solidary is a necessity and shared responsibility only one small step of addressing the impact HIV has had and continues to have on all of our lives.

This year, Giving Tuesday coincides with World AIDS Day! So, on Dec. 1, we are asking all our members and supporters to help organizations whose work focuses on HIV/AIDS. Together we do make a difference. 

Warmly,

Vera Caine PhD, RN

CANAC President

CANAC stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and alongside activists across Canada, the US and globally. Racism resonates deeply across many communities we work with and causes profound harm. The institutional racism within healthcare and within the criminal justice system deeply impacts people living with HIV. The persistent disparities, caused by public policies and practices, are visible in access to health care, housing, education, income and employment.

As nurses working in HIV/AIDS care we promote social justice, culturally safe care and human rights. We strive towards this in our practices, education, and research. Alongside other organizations working with people living with HIV, we will challenge institutional racism, inequities, and human rights violations. We support our members and ally organizations in efforts to address white privilege and anti-Black racism.

At the same time, CANAC nurses recognize that the effects of and ongoing colonization in Canada have resulted in significant health disparities in Indigenous populations. This includes an increased risk of acquiring HIV and an increased likelihood of being victims of violence and racism. We are working to decolonize our practices and promote allyship. The systematic and daily racism needs to stop.

In solidarity,

CANAC

In congruence with science and robust evidence CANAC endorses the ‘Undetectable equals Untransmittable’ (U=U) position. U=U affirms that people living with HIV who maintain an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV through sexual activities. For the entire position statement, click here. 

CANAC has updated its Strategic Plan for 2019 – 2023. Please click here to access the document. 

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.

Registration is now open for CANAC’s 28th Annual Conference on May 21-23, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. Click here to visit the conference web page and register.