Action needed to address molecular HIV surveillance ethical concerns.

There have been growing ethical concerns about the widespread use of HIV-related molecular epidemiological public health surveillance and research-or what has come to be known as molecular HIV surveillance. The varied concerns of the practice originate due to lack of informed consent, lack of demonstrated benefit for communities, potential for eroded patient care relationships leading to poor health outcomes, and potential implications for information sharing and findings which could increase stigmatization and other negative impacts in contexts where HIV, drug use, sex work, migration, and poverty are criminalized. As people living with HIV, lawyers, clinicians, and social scientists, we are part of the growing movement calling for critical and ethical attention to the practice of molecular HIV surveillance and the public health logic which underwrites the practice.

Zig, Zag, and 'Zyme: leveraging structural biology to engineer disease resistance.

Dynamic host-pathogen interactions determine whether disease will occur. Pathogen effector proteins are central players in such disease development. On one hand, they improve susceptibility by manipulating host targets; on the other hand, they can trigger immunity after recognition by host immune receptors.

Criminal Code reform of HIV non-disclosure is urgently needed: Social science perspectives on the harms of HIV criminalization in Canada.

The criminalization of HIV non-disclosure represents a significant issue of concern among people living with HIV, those working across the HIV sector, public health practitioners, and health and human rights advocates around the world. Recently, the government of Canada began a review of the criminal law regarding HIV non-disclosure and invited feedback from the public about potential reforms to the Criminal Code. In light of this public consultation, this commentary examines social science research from Canadian scholars that documents the intersecting damaging effects of HIV criminalization.

Advancing Dialogue About Consent and Molecular HIV Surveillance in the United States: Four Proposals Following a Federal Advisory Panel's Call for Major Reforms.

Policy Points Molecular HIV surveillance and cluster detection and response (MHS/CDR) programs have been a core public health activity in the United States since 2018 and are the "fourth pillar" of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative launched in 2019. MHS/CDR has caused controversy, including calls for a moratorium from networks of people living with HIV. In October 2022, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) adopted a resolution calling for major reforms.

Beyond criminalization: reconsidering HIV criminalization in an era of reform.

Purpose Of Review: This paper reviews recent studies examining the application of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-specific criminal laws in North America (particularly the United States and Canada). In the wake of the development of new biomedical prevention strategies, many states in the United States (US) have recently begun to reform or repeal their HIV-specific laws. These findings can help inform efforts to 'modernize' HIV laws (or, to revise in ways that reflect recent scientific advances in HIV treatment and prevention).

Alternatives to sharing COVID-19 data with law enforcement: Recommendations for stakeholders.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, in some jurisdictions, police have become involved in enforcing coronavirus-related measures. Relatedly, several North American jurisdictions have established COVID-19 data sharing protocols with law enforcement. Research across a range of fields has demonstrated that involving police in matters of public health disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable and does more harm than good.

Human rights, public health and COVID-19 in Canada.

Faced with the extraordinary global public health crisis of COVID-19, governments across Canada must decide, often with limited and imperfect evidence, how to implement measures to reduce its spread. Drawing on a health and human rights framework, this commentary explores several features of the Canadian response to date that raise human rights concerns. Our discussion focuses on criminal law, fines, data collection, and so-called snitch lines.

Journeying together: A visual exploration of "engagement" as a journey in HIV programming and service delivery.

The experiences of people living with, or impacted by HIV, who participate in research and programming are relatively-well documented. However, how stakeholders within the HIV sector understand engagement, or how it functions discursively, is undertheorized. We used a comparative case study design and photovoice to explore engagement in three community-based organizations providing HIV programs or services in Toronto, Canada.