News Briefs & Health Notes

Vanguard funding renewed again

The Vanguard Project has received another year of funding. We are now funded through until March 2001. Funded by a grant from Health Canada's National Health Research & Development Program (NHRDP), the Vanguard Project originally received three years of funding, which began in early 1995. In early 1999 we received a one-year extension, which has now been extended for another year. In the fall of 2000 we will be applying to the NHRDP for funding to continue the study beyond March, 2001.

DSCHC wins award

The Downtown South Community Health Centre received the J.F. McCreary Interdisciplinary Health Care Award from UBC Health Sciences last year. The award acknowledges the collaborative efforts of team members at the Centre to effectively serve the Downtown South population. The Centre offers such innovative programs as the "Boys R Us" drop-in for male sex trade workers, and the Monday Health Project, serving gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.

Currently at Seymour and Helmcken, the DSCHC will relocate this spring to 1290 Hornby Street (at Drake). The clinic is currently open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm, and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. In the new location, however, the clinic will be open Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm, and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Mary Lou changes e-mail address

Vanguard nurse Mary Lou Miller has changed her e-mail address from <mloum@ican.net> to <mloum@telus.net>.

Qualitative analysis underway

Fourteen Vanguard participants recently took part in a series of interviews and group discussions regarding life-course events, risk reduction strategies and the personal meanings of "sex." Conducted in the fall and winter of 1999/2000 by Vanguard research associate Michael Botnick, the taped interviews have been transcribed and are now being analysed. In a paper in progress for his sociology thesis at UBC, Botnick notes that "there is a wide variety of meanings that people associate with sex and sexuality, and some interesting connections between events that happened in the past, the coming-out process, and people's attitudes towards safer sex."

Life event "stress scale" in progress

This year we will be including a one-page "Life Event Stress Scale" in the Vanguard questionnaire package. This is an adaptation of the "standard" stress scale that has been in use since the 1960s. The difference is that this one is designed specifically for gay and bisexual men. Participants are going to be asked to rate various life events (for example "coming out to family") on a 19-point scale ranging from "extremely positive or satisfying" to "extremely negative or dissatisfying."

Once the data is collected and processed, we will be able to assign a standardized "value" to each event, and the revised stress scale will be incorporated into the next version of the Vanguard questionnaire (due in October 2000). Preparations are underway to finalize the Life Event Stress Scale and include it in the questionnaire packages.

105 volunteers recruited for HIV vaccine trial

The Vancouver Vaccine Trial is underway, having recruited over 100 gay and bisexual men to participate in a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of the AIDSVAX investigational HIV vaccine.

The response from the Vancouver gay community overwhelmed the local trial coordinators, and recruitment was faster here than in most American cities. Over 5000 participants in over 50 cities across North America are enrolled in this three-year clinical trial. Toronto and Montreal are the other two participating Canadian cities.

Vancouver participants have formed a participant-driven Advisory Board which meets monthly to oversee the trial and to provide a forum for participant feedback and discussion. Two Vancouver participants also sit on the North American Participant Advisory Board.

Participants receive a series of seven inoculations over the course of the three-year trial. Vaccine trial nurse Nancy McLean reports that side effects to the vaccine have been minimal and no major adverse effects have been reported among the 5000 participants. Results from the trial won't be available for a few years, but we'll try to keep you posted.

Second shot for hep A vaccine is now free of charge

Thanks to successful lobbying efforts on the part of community-based agencies and the Vanguard Project, the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board has agreed to fund the second shot of the hepatitis A vaccine for all gay and bisexual men, regardless of HIV status. This policy change will help prevent future outbreaks of the disease in Vancouver, as a single vaccination provides only temporary immunity to the disease and a booster shot is required to provide long-term immunity.

The Health Board had previously restricted the eligibility criteria for free full immunization to include only injection drug users, people with hep C, and HIV+ gay and bisexual men, thereby excluding HIV-negative gay and bisexual men. The full two-shot vaccine is now free for all gay and bisexual men and is available at street clinics and via Vanguard nurse Mary Lou Miller.

Treatment intervention to counter recent syphilis outbreak

A recent outbreak of syphilis in Vancouver has been countered with an innovative treatment/prevention strategy by the BC Centre for Disease Control and the Street Nurse Outreach Program. The outbreak was seen mainly among female sex trade workers, their clients and their sexual partners, but some cases were also seen among gay and bisexual men who had anonymous sex, primarily in bathhouses.

In early 2000, the BC Centre for Disease Control launched a campaign to treat people at risk - whether or not they showed symptoms - in an effort to control the outbreak. Over 7000 doses of the antibiotic Azithromycin were distributed, primarily in the Downtown Eastside. Gay and bisexual men accounted for 10% of those treated, reports Bute Street clinic nurse Paul Harris. It's too soon to tell if this intervention will reduce local syphilis rates, but we'll keep you posted.

If you think you might have been exposed to syphilis or might be at risk, contact your physician, drop by a medical clinic, or see Vanguard nurse Mary Lou Miller.