PrEP program a bright light in 2020 AIDS Awareness events
PrEP program a bright light in 2020 AIDS Awareness events
By Joan Wiley, 2SLGBTQIA+ ally and OUTniagara Board Director
While things will look a little different this year because of COVID, World AIDS Awareness Week will still be recognized in Niagara. And this year, there will be something to celebrate.
Beginning Monday, Nov. 23, Positive Living Niagara will raise AIDS Awareness flags at city halls in Welland, Niagara Falls and St. Catharines. Warm red scarves will be left at the sites to be used by folks who need them and to raise HIV awareness.
On Saturday, Nov. 26, Positive Living will join Pride Niagara for one of its week-long virtual AIDS Awareness events. The Nov. 26 will feature some of Niagara’s drag performers.
Monday, Dec. 1 is the beginning of Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week. The day also marks World AIDS Day and will be honoured with a virtual vigil.
For more details, go to https://www.facebook.com/darryl.positivelivingniagara.7/videos/181427260277363
Thursday, Nov. 26 is a reason to for Niagara’s sexual- and gender-diverse communities to celebrate, with a Facebook live information session about PrEP with nurse practitioner Alison and certified HIV pharmacist Drew.
A silver lining behind the pandemic cloud was the establishment of two PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) programs in Niagara earlier this year. One is offered through Quest Community Health Centre in St. Catharines, and the other is offered through a partnership between Niagara Falls Community Health Centre and Positive Living Niagara.
PrEP stands for pre-exposure prophylaxis and consists of a once-daily pill to prevent HIV from replicating after exposure, allowing your immune response to eliminate it from your body.
When taken routinely by an HIV-negative person, PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV from unprotected sex by up to 99 per cent, and can reduce the risk from injection drug use by up to 75 per cent.
The Quest website suggest if you’re doing one or more of the following, you may be a good candidate for PrEP:
- Unprotected sex and are unsure of their sex partner’s HIV status.
- Multiple sex partners and report inconsistent or no condom use.
- Had a sexually transmitted infection in the past.
- Injected drugs and sometimes share needles.Used Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) in the past.
- A partner who is HIV positive and has a detectable viral load.
Marnie Lambie, Health Promotion Co-ordinator at NFCHC, says that she brings a personal aspect of HIV/AIDS to Niagara’s PrEP Clinic.
“I have an older brother who was diagnosed in the 80s during the peak of the AIDS epidemic, when it was a death sentence. Just before his death in 1993, he participated in very early trials of anti-retroviral studies,” says Lambie. “He said if it helped someone to live a couple extra years it is worth it because that is what he would want for himself. The fact that I can contribute to a program that can prevent HIV infection brings my life experience full circle, and for that I am extremely grateful.”
Darryl Dyball, Community Development and Education Co-ordinator at Positive Living Niagara, said that for years, PrEP was either unattainable in Niagara, or people had to travel to Hamilton or Toronto.
“But now, we can accommodate those individuals by offering the services they require. This is such an amazing opportunity to launch these services to our community in the Niagara region,” he says.
Steven Athanasas is a registered nurse and co-ordinates the PrEP program at Quest. He says he is “extremely happy with the increase in access to PrEP in the Niagara region. PrEP is an amazing tool to help individuals at highest risk of HIV feel safe and more in control of their sex life.”
To make an appointment to see if PrEP is right for you, or to start the intake process, contact: Darryl at Positive Living Niagara at ddyball@ positivelivingniagara.com or call 905-984-8684 X120. You may also contact Quest at www.questchc.ca/PrEP or call 905-688-2558 X0.
