CATIE Blog | HIV and hepatitis C news and opinions

Advancing awareness: Canadian Positive People Network’s U=U Task Force and the fight against HIV stigma

November 11, 2025 • By Breklyn Bertozzi

At the Canadian Positive People Network (CPPN), we strive to end HIV stigma. We also recognize that people living with HIV provide the movement’s strongest guiding voices. That’s why our U=U Task Force is led by people living with HIV and is dedicated to sharing one of the most groundbreaking messages in public health: Undetectable = Untransmittable. U=U means that when a person living with HIV is on effective treatment and has an undetectable viral load, they cannot transmit the virus to their sexual partners. It’s a message that transforms lives, dismantles stigma and redefines what it means to live...

Serving PrEP realness: How Priss Cryption is using drag to power HIV prevention

November 11, 2025 • By Priss Cryption

As a pharmacist, pharmacy professor and researcher who also happens to be a drag queen, I’ve learned something vital from both the clinic and the club: people listen – and learn – when they feel seen. Through my drag persona Priss Cryption, I’m building programs that meet communities where they already gather, bringing HIV pre‑exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and emerging STI prevention tools like doxycycline post‑exposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP) to stages, bars, classrooms and social feeds. It’s glitter with a purpose. The need is urgent. Canada reported 2,434 new HIV diagnoses in 2023, a 35% increase from 2022, reminding us that progress...

HIV PrEP and cisgender women: Are we meeting their needs?

November 11, 2025 • By Sugandhi del Canto

Despite its proven effectiveness among all genders, awareness of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) remains low among women in Canada, with lower awareness reported among cisgender women. Some key populations with higher HIV incidence have received promotion of PrEP since it was first introduced, but cis women haven’t always benefitted from the same efforts. One possible reason may be that – at least in Canada – the largest burden of HIV incidence among cis women tends to be concentrated within subsets of this population: African, Caribbean and Black women, Indigenous women, and women who inject drugs, for example. The more intersections,...

Sexual health for all: Lessons from the HIV & STI 2025 World Congress

October 16, 2025 • By Dan Miller

This July, CATIE joined 1,500 researchers, advocates and policy makers from around the world for the STI and HIV 2025 World Congress in Montreal, Quebec. Held every two years, the event provides a venue for global leaders in sexual health research to discuss the latest evidence and most pressing challenges in STI prevention, testing and care. Four particularly timely and significant topics stood out, each with important implications for bacterial STI prevention, testing and treatment. DoxyPEP for cis women A key theme of the event was the lack of research on doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP) effectiveness in cis women and...

Health workers shouldn’t have to go to court to stop online abuse

September 15, 2025 • By Andrew Brett

Last month, CATIE won a landmark $1.75M defamation case against an individual who undertook a sustained online hate campaign against our staff and volunteer board members. The attacks were driven by our commitment to publishing sexual health information and, as the judge acknowledged, by homophobia. The decision affirms that this kind of abuse is unlawful. But it also highlights a systemic failure: we should never have had to go to court to defend our right to do our work. We are not alone. Other HIV organizations and public health workers were defamed by the same individual. 2SLGBTQIA+ health advocates continue...

Let’s talk about how to manage inflammatory skin conditions in people living with HIV

August 18, 2025 • By Daniel Rayner, Dr. Eric McMullen and Dr. Philip Doiron

Despite significant advancements in the treatment and management of HIV/AIDS, many people living with HIV experience skin problems as either standalone conditions or resulting from HIV infection itself. Research shows that over 90% of people living with HIV in a recent U.K. based hospital study had skin conditions. But what are some of the common skin issues associated with HIV? Also, how can treating these skin issues maintain and improve the quality of life of people living with HIV? Eczema People living with HIV are at a higher risk of developing eczema compared to the general population. Ezema can present...