Last June, the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE) made clear something that Black and Indigenous communities have always known: that systemic racism was a public health crisis. Regarding how systemic racism affects Black Canadians living with HIV/AIDS, CATIE stated that our communities have been left particularly vulnerable:
“We have seen anti-Black racism in the disproportionate policing, criminalization and media reporting of African, Caribbean and Black people living with HIV for non- disclosure of HIV status. Furthermore, disproportionate rates of incarceration have a compounding effect on the risk of HIV and hepatitis C infection.”
This February 7 is the seventh annual African, Caribbean and Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in Canada. Here are some resources for TransGriot readers based in Canada to access:
- African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO)
- Phone: 416-977-9955
- Email: k.kirunga@accho.ca (Ky’okusinga Kirunga, Director)
- Instagram: instagram.com/acch.
ontario
- African Diaspora Association of the Maritimes
- Web: adamns.com
- Contact form: adamns.com/contact-adam
- Africans in Partnership Against AIDS (APAA)
- Phone: 416-924-5256
- Email: info@apaa.ca
- Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (BCAP)
- Phone: 416-977-9955
- Email: info@black-cap.com
- Web: www.black-cap.com
- Canadian HIV/AIDS Black, African and Caribbean Network (CHABAC)
- Phone: 613-233-7440
- Email: info@icad-cisd.com
- Coalition des organismes communautaires québécois de lutte contre le sida/Coalition of Quebec community organizations fighting against AIDS (COCQ-SIDA)
- Phone: 514-844-2477 (ext. 0)
- Toll free: 1-866-535-0481
- Email: info@cocqsida.com
By Vanessa Colantonio (She/Her/Hers)
Vancouver, BC, Canada