CATIE Blog
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CATIE is Canada’s source for up-to-date, unbiased information about HIV and hepatitis C. We connect people living with HIV or hepatitis C, at-risk communities, healthcare providers and community organizations with the knowledge, resources and expertise to reduce transmission and improve quality of life.
CATIE Blog
2d ago
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that can cause liver damage and scarring and make a person very sick if left untreated. Nearly one-quarter of people who have ever had hepatitis C in Canada are unaware of their status, so increasing testing remains pivotal if Canada is to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health threat by 2030. Many advances have been made over the past few years, and more tools are available than ever to test people for hepatitis C. Point-of-care RNA testing for hepatitis C is of particular interest to many service providers because it can be conducted outside...
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CATIE Blog
2d ago
With the advent of treatments called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), a huge number of people across Canada have been successfully cured of hepatitis C. However, efforts to cure some of the most affected communities continue to be hindered by incorrect or outdated information. For example, many successes in curing hepatitis C have been achieved through the determination of people who use drugs, and yet they still encounter access barriers due to discrimination and problematic misconceptions around treatment eligibility. These gaps in knowledge can be addressed by raising awareness about hepati ..read more
CATIE Blog
1M ago
Highly effective medications that can cure hepatitis C infection, called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), have been approved for use in Canada for people over the age of 18 since 2014. These medications are well-tolerated, nearly 100% effective, and have treatment durations of just eight or 12 weeks. DAAs have simplified hepatitis C treatment considerably, allowing treatments to be prescribed by primary care providers, such as nurse practitioners and family doctors. Now that the treatment itself is so simple, getting coverage for reimbursement of DAAs is the most complicated and challenging as ..read more
CATIE Blog
1M ago
Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) refers to the scientific consensus that HIV cannot be sexually transmitted when a person living with HIV consistently takes antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the amount of HIV in their blood remains very low—so low that it cannot be detected by many standard HIV tests. While the U=U message empowers people living with HIV and reduces stigma associated with the virus, it is only effective if individuals living with HIV are able to continuously take their medication. Some people in Canada, such as African, Caribbean and Black communities, Indigenous people, ga ..read more
CATIE Blog
2M ago
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common virus that is most easily passed during sexual contact. The body clears most HPV infections on its own, however some become persistent. There are many different types of HPV. Certain types can cause cancer, including anal, cervical and oral cancers. Some types cause anal and genital warts. HPV cannot be cured by medication, but there are vaccines that can prevent a person from getting some types of HPV. All HPV vaccines protect against the two types that cause most cases of anal and cervical cancer (types 16 and 18), and some vaccines protect...
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CATIE Blog
2M ago
For years, gay, bisexual, trans, Two-Spirit and queer (GBT2Q) communities have been experiencing unacceptably high rates of syphilis with limited action taken by others outside the work of community-based sexual health organizations. However, provincial and federal responses have been stoked due to an increase in heterosexual transmission and a rise in cases of babies born with syphilis, also known as congenital syphilis. When acquired by a fetus during pregnancy, syphilis can result in miscarriage, stillbirth or permanent disability of the newborn. Consequently, efforts to leverage innovative ..read more
CATIE Blog
4M ago
After 35 years of fierce activism, AIDS Action Now!, the HIV treatment activist group, is shutting down. AIDS Action Now! was formed in Toronto in 1988 as a community-based response to the lack of institutional leadership regarding treatment and healthcare for people living with HIV/AIDS. Its strategy was to combine confrontational public demonstrations with strategic documents and “behind the scenes” meetings with government and institutional leaders. These meetings pushed decision-makers to respond more forcefully to HIV healthcare at a time when it was highly stigmatized and few treatment o ..read more
CATIE Blog
5M ago
Thanks to advances in treatment and care, people living with HIV are enjoying longer, healthier lives. This also means that more people living with HIV are going through the journey of menopause, a significant life transition that many cisgender women, and some trans men and non-binary people, experience*. Despite a large number of women spending nearly half their lives in menopause, it is not commonly discussed as part of sexual and reproductive health, nor is it commonly discussed as part of HIV care. Added to this, many women do not feel they can seek out care for menopause, or when...
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CATIE Blog
6M ago
It is with a heavy heart that I share the sad news that my friend and colleague Ron Rosenes died on Saturday, October 21, 2023, after a short illness. My deepest sympathies go out to Ron’s partner Brian Goodman, to his family, and to the many community members whose lives he touched. Like many of us, I will miss him dearly while also paying homage to his accomplishments on behalf of people living with and affected by HIV and the LGBTQ+ community. Motivated by his own HIV diagnosis 40 years ago, Ron was an outspoken, but always polite, advocate for...
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CATIE Blog
8M ago
Every year the Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) organizes Canada’s leading HIV research conference, where researchers, service providers, people living with HIV, policy-makers and advocates come together to exchange knowledge, share their work and learn about advances in HIV research. CATIE attended CAHR 2023 in Quebec City to tap into the latest discussions and debates in Canada’s HIV response. Learn more about what people were saying at the conference in the videos below. Canada’s progress on its HIV targets CATIE caught up with leaders in Canada’s response to HIV and asked them ..read more