[Viva] Fwd: January 21, 2025

Sun Jan 26 19:30:34 PST 2025

This PAN newsletter has a few interesting articles and links but I'm
especially happy to see that there's finally (!) some movement towards
changing the guidelines for feeding newborn babies -as long as the mom has
a fully suppressed viral load. This could be a game changer for new
parents.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: PAN Weekly News <janet at paninbc.ca>
Date: Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Subject: January 21, 2025
To: Margarite Sanchez <margaritesanchez at gmail.com>

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*PAN Weekly News * January 21, 2025
PAN Updates
Last chance to apply for Positive Leadership Development Institute Core
Training
*Apply by Wednesday January 22! *The Positive Leadership Development
Institute (PLDI) Western Canada is hosting Core Leadership Training, Who am
I as a Leader? online from *January 29-February 12, 2025*. PLDI offers a
unique training for people living with HIV to explore and develop
leadership by their own definition. *Learn more.
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Reminder: Stigma Positive Action Workshop
If you're a person living with HIV interested in reducing the harms of
stigma, this could be for you! On *January 30th* PAN is offering a one-day
workshop on to help build awareness, knowledge, and skills surrounding
reducing HIV stigma. It's for people who are living with HIV; currently
involved or have an interest in reducing the harms of HIV, hepatitis C, and
the toxic drug supply; currently involved or have an interest in delivering
harm reduction to people living in small urban, rural and remote (SURR)
areas. We believe that people with lived and living experience can, and do,
effectively deliver harm reduction services to the communities they
serve. *Learn
more. *
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Five Questions with Emily Taylor-Lariviere
We are happy to welcome Emily to the PAN team. Emily is a nurse who has a
long working relationship with Cool Aid. She is pursuing a Masters in
Public Health at the University of Victoria and will be working with the
Research and Evaluation department at PAN. *Learn more.*
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Community News
Beyond the Distractions: Criminalization across communities
Join the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition at this *webinar on January 29* to
explore decriminalization across movements. Learn about the history of
criminalization faced by various communities, hear firsthand accounts from
those directly affected by these policies, and examine how grassroots
movements and coalitions have worked together. Through solidarity and
collective action, we can push for policies that protect the basic human
rights of all people.* Learn more.*
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Stories of Transgender and Gender Diverse People with Disabilities
Participants wanted! The Accessing Gender-Affirming Care among Disabled TGD
People Study is a research project aimed at collecting the stories of
transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people who identify as disabled
regarding their access to gender-affirming care (GAC) in British Columbia,
Canada. GAC includes medical, mental health, and social interventions that
support TGD identities. These interventions can include hormone replacement
therapy (HRT), puberty blockers, gender-affirming surgeries, psychotherapy,
and support groups. *Learn more.
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Canadian guidance should present formula and breast or chest feeding as
equivalent options for parents with virally suppressed HIV
In this commentary piece from the Canadian Medical Association Journal,
authors advocate for change to Canadian guidance on infant feeding in
relation to HIV. The current guidelines recommends formula feeding for all
infants of birthing parents with HIV. However, evidence supports that the
risk of perinatal HIV transmission from breast or chest feeding is very low
when a parent with HIV is on antiretroviral therapy (ART), virally
suppressed, and under the care of a clinician. *Learn more.*
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(Re)conciliation
* PAN is committed to learning about and challenging the harms of ongoing
colonialism. We recognize that the word reconciliation can be problematic
because it implies that there was a good relationship between Indigenous
and non-Indigenous people at some point in time, which wasn't necessarily
the case. We choose it because it's a recognizable term. We hope that it
connects people to dialogue and learn about the important work that needs
to be done.*

Advocates hope a new national registry will reveal extent of Indigenous
sterilization
Advocates hope a new national registry will reveal the extent of forced and
coerced sterilization of Indigenous women across Canada. "It's challenging
to know the full extent of the issue right now because ... there hasn't
really been a national report or study done on it in detail," said
Kahsenniyo Kick with the non-profit Survivor Circle for Reproductive
Justice. *Learn more.*
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5 Things to Know When Working with Indigenous Communities
This new blog post from Indigenous Corporate Training shares factors in
building good relationships. "It’s important to understand that meaningful
engagement with Indigenous communities is not simply a checkbox to be
ticked off or a performative act when there are project goals your
organization wants to achieve. There is a lot more complexity and
consideration that needs to go into building a meaningful relationship with
an Indigenous community -- it isn’t only about achieving an “end goal” for
a project." *Learn more.*
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Resources for emotional support

*KUU-US Crisis Line Society *
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The KUU-US Crisis Line Society provides a First Nations and Indigenous
specific crisis line available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, toll-free
from anywhere in British Columbia. KUU-US Crisis Line can be reached
toll-free at 1-800-588-8717. Alternatively, individuals can call direct
into the Youth Line at 250-723-2040 or the Adult Line at 250-723-4050.
*Indian Residential School Survivors Society *
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The Indian Residential School Survivors Society operates a 24-hour crisis
line: 1 (800) 721-0066.

*Hope for Wellness Helpline
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Hope for Wellness Helpline is available 24/7 to all Indigenous people
across Canada. Experienced and culturally competent counsellors are
reachable by telephone and online ‘chat’ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Substance Use News
*For current drug alerts and information on overdose prevention services,
please visit Toward the Heart
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For additional connections and reading, visit our Substance Use and Harm
Reduction
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page. *
Drug Checking Office Hours
*Starts today at 10 AM Pacific time.* The Canadian Centre on Substance Use
and Addiction is pleased to host Drug Checking Office Hours — virtual,
one-hour, drop-in calls where experts from the National Drug Checking
Working Group will provide guidance, answer questions and share resources
on drug checking in Canada. Sign up to join us on Microsoft Teams on the
second Tuesday of each month from 10-11 AM Pacific time for direct access
to experts in policy, research, community engagement, technical support,
training and more. You can drop in on as many monthly calls as you like. *Learn
more.
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Harm reduction advocates hope high court will 'clarify' Canada's 'Good
Samaritan' law
When Paul Wilson and three others called 911 as a woman they were with
experienced a fentanyl overdose, they set in motion a chain of events that
is now being reviewed by Canada's Supreme Court. When Mounties arrived,
Wilson was arrested for drug possession, and a search later turned up a bag
with guns, false identity documents and a quantity of "apparent drugs."
Wilson was convicted on multiple gun charges in 2022, but the Saskatchewan
Court of Appeal found the drug possession arrest was unlawful under
Canada's Good Samaritan law, which is meant to shield people from arrest
after they seek help for someone in medical distress. The legal questions
raised by the case are now set to be tested in the Supreme Court of Canada,
and harm reduction advocates say the case will determine the future of the
current Good Samaritan law. *Learn more.*
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Justin Trudeau’s “Mixed Bag” Legacy on Drug Policy
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s nine years in power come to an end, many
are reflecting on his legacy. His record on drug policy—in an era that saw
the federal legalization of cannabis and the expansion of harm reduction
programs, but far too little done to stem a devastating overdose
crisis—forms an important part of that legacy. Conservative Party leader
Pierre Poilievre, who is currently leading in the polls, has promised to
crack down on overdose prevention sites and safe supply programs. *Learn
more.*
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Resources
Pathways to Parenthood resource for people living with HIV
As a community living positively, “WE CAN DO THIS”. “We can do this” means
we should learn as much as we can about our reproductive options, rights
and experiences of other people living with HIV. This helps prepare for the
challenges that we may face, like lack of accessibility to resources and
support or even fertility care.* Learn more.
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