HIV disclosure without consent linked to increased violence against women living with HIV in a Canadian setting.

Our study examined the association between HIV disclosure without consent and verbal and/or physical violence due to HIV status among women living with HIV (WLWH). This study draws on baseline data of a sample (N = 316) from SHAWNA, a longitudinal community-based open cohort with WLWH in Metro Vancouver, Canada (2010-2019). Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate factors associated with physical and/or verbal violence due to HIV status.

Prioritizing gender equity and intersectionality in Canadian global health institutions and partnerships.

Despite governmental efforts to close the gender gap and global calls including Sustainable Development Goal 5 to promote gender equality, the sobering reality is that gender inequities continue to persist in Canadian global health institutions. Moreover, from health to the economy, security to social protection, COVID-19 has exposed and heightened pre-existing inequities, with women, especially marginalized women, being disproportionately impacted. Women, particularly women who face bias along multiple identity dimensions, continue to be at risk of being excluded or delegitimized as participants in the global health workforce and continue to face barriers in career advancement to leadership, management and governance positions in Canada.

Life after hepatitis C cure in HIV-infected people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men treated with direct-acting antivirals in France: Health perceptions and experiences from qualitative and quantitative findings (ANRS CO13 HEPAVIH).

There remains a substantial gap in our understandings of the life experiences of patients following HCV cure among HIV-HCV-co-infected people who inject drugs (PWID) and men who have sex with men (MSM), two key populations targeted for HCV elimination. We described the experiences and perspectives of HIV-positive PWID and MSM, HCV-cured following treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAA). We used an exploratory sequential mixed approach using both qualitative data (semi-structured interviews with 27 PWID and 20 MSM) and quantitative data (self-administered questionnaires with 89 PWID) via the prospective ANRS CO13 HEPAVIH cohort.

The Effect of Violence and Intersecting Structural Inequities on High Rates of Food Insecurity among Marginalized Sex Workers in a Canadian Setting.

Food security is both a basic human right and a public health necessity. Despite known gendered contexts of food insecurity, there is a dearth of research on prevalence and factors driving increased food insecurity for sex workers in a criminalized setting. The current study longitudinally examines the prevalence and structural and individual factors associated with increased odds of food insecurity among street and off-street sex workers in a Canadian urban setting.

Social and structural factors associated with greater time with a plasma HIV-1 RNA viral load above log10(1500) copies/ml among illicit drug users.

Objectives: Although previous cross-sectional studies have identified correlates of detectable plasma HIV-1 RNA viral load (VL) among HIV-positive people who use drugs (PWUD), longitudinal factors associated with heightened HIV transmission potential have not been well described. Therefore, we longitudinally examined factors associated with amount of person-time spent above log10(1500) copies/ml plasma among HIV-positive PWUD in Vancouver, Canada.

Design: Data were derived from a long-running prospective cohort of HIV-positive PWUD linked to comprehensive clinical records including systematic VL monitoring.

Sociodemographic correlates of HIV drug resistance and access to drug resistance testing in British Columbia, Canada.

Sociodemographic correlates of engagement in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care are well studied, however the association with accessing drug resistance testing (DRT) and the development of drug resistance have not been characterized. Between 1996-2014, 11 801 HIV patients accessing therapy in British Columbia were observed longitudinally. A subset of 9456 patients had testable viral load; of these 8398 were linked to census data.

Patterns of Transmitted Drug Resistance and Virological Response to First-line Antiretroviral Treatment Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected People Who Use Illicit Drugs in a Canadian Setting.

Background: Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) may compromise response to antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, there are limited data on TDR patterns and impacts among people who use illicit drugs (PWUD).

Methods: Data were drawn from 2 prospective cohorts of PWUD in Vancouver, Canada.

Assessing process of paediatric care in a resource-limited setting: a cross-sectional audit of district hospitals in Rwanda.

Background: Routine assessment of quality of care helps identify deficiencies which need to be improved. While gaps in the emergency care of children have been documented across sub-Saharan Africa, data from Rwanda are lacking.

Objective: To assess the care of sick infants and children admitted to Rwandan district hospitals and the extent to which it follows currently recommended clinical practice guidelines in Rwanda.

High-intensity cannabis use and HIV clinical outcomes among HIV-positive people who use illicit drugs in Vancouver, Canada.

Background: Reforms to the legal status of medical and non-medical cannabis are underway in many jurisdictions, including Canada, as are renewed efforts to scale-up HIV treatment-as-prevention (TasP) initiatives. It has been suggested that high-intensity cannabis use may be associated with sub-optimal HIV treatment outcomes. Thus, using data from a setting with a community-wide treatment-as-prevention (TasP) initiative coinciding with increasing access to medical cannabis, we sought to investigate the possible impact of high-intensity cannabis use on HIV clinical outcomes.

Health-adjusted life expectancy in HIV-positive and HIV-negative men and women in British Columbia, Canada: a population-based observational cohort study.

Background: We sought to understand whether people living with HIV (PLHIV) ever on highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) follow a pattern where morbidity is compressed into the last years of life or lessened as people age. We aimed to estimate health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) among adults living with and without HIV, and examine dependency between causes of comorbidities.

Methods: The Comparative Outcomes and Service Utilization Trends (COAST) study is a retrospective cohort of adults (≥20 years) including all known PLHIV and a 10% random sample of the general population of British Columbia, and with longitudinal data spanning from April 1, 1996, to Dec 31, 2012.

Changes in mortality rates and causes of death in a population-based cohort of persons living with and without HIV from 1996 to 2012.

Background: Non-HIV/AIDS-related diseases are gaining prominence as important causes of morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV. The purpose of this study was to characterize and compare changes over time in mortality rates and causes of death among a population-based cohort of persons living with and without HIV in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Methods: We analysed data from the Comparative Outcomes And Service Utilization Trends (COAST) study; a retrospective population-based study created via linkage between the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Population Data BC, and containing data for HIV-infected individuals and the general population of BC, respectively.

Enabling the transferability of complex interventions: exploring the combination of an intervention's key functions and implementation.

Objectives: Several public health interventions are not described, not evaluated and not transferred. The objective was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of using a description model making a distinction between interventions' transferable elements, and those that are more context-specific, to make their evaluation and transferability easier.

Methods: The theoretical distinction between an intervention function and its form in a specific context has been empirically explored.

Correlates of Performance of Healthcare Workers in Emergency, Triage, Assessment and Treatment plus Admission Care (ETAT+) Course in Rwanda: Context Matters.

Background: The Emergency, Triage, Assessment and Treatment plus Admission care (ETAT+) course, a comprehensive advanced pediatric life support course, was introduced in Rwanda in 2010 to facilitate the achievement of the fourth Millennium Development Goal. The impact of the course on improving healthcare workers (HCWs) knowledge and practical skills related to providing emergency care to severely ill newborns and children in Rwanda has not been studied.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of the ETAT+ course on HCWs knowledge and practical skills, and to identify factors associated with greater improvement in knowledge and skills.

Development of a brief substance use sensation seeking scale: validation and prediction of injection-related behaviors.

Sensation seeking, a personality trait, has been shown to predict engagement in high-risk behaviors. However, little is known regarding the impact of sensation seeking on substance use among street youth. We therefore sought to modify a sensation seeking scale (SSS) for use among this population.

Pregnancy intentions among female sex workers: recognising their rights and wants as mothers.

Objective: To better understand the prevalence and correlates of pregnancy intentions among female sex workers (FSWs).

Design: Cross-sectional analysis using data from an open prospective cohort of street and off-street FSWs in Vancouver, Canada, in partnership with local sex work and community agencies.

Methods: FSWs were recruited through outreach to street and off-street locations (e.

The privileged normalization of marijuana use - an analysis of Canadian newspaper reporting, 1997-2007.

The objective of this study was to systematically examine predominant themes within mainstream media reporting about marijuana use in Canada. To ascertain the themes present in major Canadian newspaper reports, a sample ( = 1999) of articles published between 1997 and 2007 was analyzed. Drawing from Manning's theory of the symbolic framing of drug use within media, it is argued that a discourse of 'privileged normalization' informs portrayals of marijuana use and descriptions of the drug's users.

Crystal methamphetamine and initiation of injection drug use among street-involved youth in a Canadian setting.

Background: Although injection drug use is known to result in a range of health-related harms, including transmission of HIV and fatal overdose, little is known about the possible role of synthetic drugs in injection initiation. We sought to determine the effect of crystal methamphetamine use on risk of injection initiation among street-involved youth in a Canadian setting.

Methods: We used Cox regression analyses to identify predictors of injection initiation among injection-naive street-involved youth enrolled in the At-Risk Youth Study, a prospective cohort study of street-involved youth in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Interventions to prevent the initiation of injection drug use: a systematic review.

Background: Injection drug use has been identified as a key source of morbidity and mortality, primarily from overdose and the transmission of blood-borne diseases such as HIV. Experts have therefore called for the prioritization of resources toward the prevention of injection drug use. However, these strategies have not been systematically assessed.

Stakeholder perceptions of job stress in an industrialized country: implications for policy and practice.

We used a secondary, qualitative analysis of stakeholder perceptions of work stress in Australia to characterize the context for policy and practice intervention. Themes included: Individual versus contextual descriptions of stress; perceived 'gender' differences in manifesting and reporting of stress; the work/home interface; and perceived sectoral and occupational differences in compensation claim rates. We found that people often still perceive stress as an individual rather than organizational problem and view work stress as a stereotypically feminine weakness that affects only certain people.

Patterns of injection drug use cessation during an expansion of syringe exchange services in a Canadian setting.

Background: Needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) have been shown to reduce HIV risk among people who inject drugs (IDUs). However, concerns remain that NSPs delay injecting cessation.

Methods: Individuals reporting injection drug use in the past six months in the greater Vancouver area were enrolled in the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS).

Predictors of recruited melanoma families into a behavioral intervention project.

Background: Examination of families represents an important priority in health research. In this paper we report on individual and family-level factors associated with enrollment in a cancer prevention research project. We approached families affected by melanoma for possible participation in a randomized controlled trial of a web-based communication and support intervention.

Developing Canada's research base for harm reduction and health equity approaches to HIV prevention and treatment.

In the area of infectious disease control, Canadian research efforts to address the HIV epidemic in Vancouver's Downtown East Side neighbourhood have fueled the development of harm reduction and health equity perspectives worldwide. These research efforts have, in turn, reshaped the field of public health approaches to HIV prevention and control. As a result of the intensive and sustained research initiatives led by Canadian scientists Drs.